Like how 2012 was the year of the bow, or how 2019 was the year of battle royale games, it seems 2020 is becoming the year of skateboarding games. This year there’s already been aPro Skaterremaster announced, along with several independently developed games likeSessionandSkater XL. Whether it’s theTony Hawkfans, theSkatefans, or both, fans from all over were sorely missing a good skateboarding simulator in any capacity.
Especially after the botched return ofPro Skater 5, fans of theTony Hawk’s series as well as other games likeSkatehave been waiting for a good skateboarding game for a while. Now that the originalPro Skater 1 + 2are making their triumphant return, it seems EA wants to get in on the action by announcing a newSkategame is in development. While there weren’t many details announced, it’s clear EA wants to get ahead of the curve in response to the positive feedback fromPro Skater’s remaster.
The Resurgence of Skateboarding Games
Skateboarding definitely lost the pop culture spotlight it once had in the late 90s/early 2000s. General interest in the sport wavered over time for a number of reasons, whether it was exterior factors or just the general loss of public attention. A lot of skateboarding’s popularity spawned from theTony Hawk’s Pro Skaterseries, which first came out in 1999. Since then, there’s been severalPro Skaterand spin-offTony Hawkgames spanning the decade between 2000-2010. Eventually the next generation of teenagers simply lost interest in the iconic sport that used to be so popular, and the game’s stopped releasing as frequently because of this. It didn’t help thatthe lastPro Skaterdidn’t exactly perform well among fansand new players.
The dream of a good skateboarding game didn’t die withPro Skater 5’s critical and commercial failure. Several indie projects of skateboarding games have grown in popularity since 2017.Whether it’s the spiritual successor toSkatelikeSessionorSkater XL, or it’s something completely new and abstract likeSkate Story, skateboarding seems to be making another resurgence in 2020 at least in videogame form. The popularity of theTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remasteredannouncement seems to have solidified that the fan interest is there as well. There’s still one more iconic skateboarding franchise that needs to make its return as well.
Where Has Skate Been?
Where many fans enjoy the bombastic and unrealistic nature of theTony Hawk’sseries, some fans prefer the more simulation-basedSkateseries. EA’s skateboarding venture began in 2007 with a desire to accurately emulate street skating culture on a realistic scale.Skateimplemented the innovative “flick it” control scheme that utilized the analog sticks to perform tricks using fighting-game-like inputs. Merging the control scheme with its down-to-earth gameplay waswhat differentiatedSkatefrom theTony Hawk’sgamesin a big way,
Then in 2010,Skate 3was the last game in the series released. Even though the game was still plenty popular and saw great critical and commercial success, the writing was on the wall for skating’s popularity in general. EA likely realized this and decided the series didn’t need another sequel any time soon, and eventuallySkatewent dark. Fans eventually started posting on EA’s social media channels, ranging from asking to demanding aSkate 4announcement or any kind of newSkategame.EA’s Instagram in particular was flooded withSkate 4replies and messages asking forSkate 4.
THPS vs. Skate: A Reactionary Unveiling (Fans too!)
NowSkatewill be making a return on next-gen consoles, but it’s hard not to feel like this was a reactionary choice from EA. Prior to this year, EA had repeatedly shown no interest in making a sequel toSkate 3or anotherSkategame in general.CEO Andrew Wilson even made a point to shut down rumors thatSkate 4was in development back in 2017. Later that year,Sessionwas announced by independent developer creā-ture studios, which eventually was fully funded on Kickstarter and released in Steam early access. AnotherSkatediscipleSkater XLwas also announced during a Nintendo Direct in 2019, further fueling the interest in modern skateboarding games. Now theTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remasteredannouncement has caused a major resurgence in fans interested in skateboarding games.
Granted, there’san inherent revelry for the classicPro Skatergames, but it does mean that games likeSessionandSkater XLhave gotten a lot of love from fans as well. EA likely recognized this, and put together theSkateannouncement for EA Play earlier this month as a result. Obviously, this announcement couldn’t have been a knee-jerk reaction unless there was a serious project in development prior, but it is curious that now was the right time to make the announcement. There wasn’t a trailer or any gameplay associated with the unveiling, just the developers stating that a new project exists in some capacity.
It’s very possible that developing the newSkategame is simply an answer to the surrounding competition. Considering the deluge of fan requests andthe creative director ofSkateeven stating fans “commented this into existence,“it’s very possible the outcry of fans was enough to push an approval from EA, but it’s hard to ignore the greater context and competition surrounding the announcement as well. Considering how early this unveiling seems to be, this could be a step towards good faith by EA so that fans can at least expect a newSkategame to join the resurgence of skateboarding video games at, well, some point.
