The skateboarding community has been holding its breath since 2020, waiting for EA’s promised return to the beloved Skate franchise.
Now that the long-awaited next-generation entry has finally arrived, the response has been anything but what developers expected—and ironically, some of the most entertaining moments don’t even involve a skateboard.
When Rolling Beats Skating
A quick scroll through social media reveals a fascinating phenomenon: players have discovered that the fastest way to traverse Skate’s expansive maps isn’t through kickflips and ollies, but through an absurd combination of rolling, spread-eagling, and strategic falling. As one bewildered player perfectly captured the sentiment: “Bro what am I even playing rn why is this faster than skating.”
This unintended movement technique has become surprisingly accessible to anyone willing to master the rhythm. According to community member KontoLetzPlay, the method is deceptively simple: “Roll > Push off from roll > spread eagle > automatically land in a slide > slide into a roll > push off from roll > repeat.” While the developers clearly never intended for players to flail across their carefully crafted skateparks faster than Tony Hawk on wheels, the community has embraced this quirky mechanic with viral enthusiasm.
A Community Divided
However, beneath the surface of these entertaining physics exploits lies a more serious conversation about the game’s direction. Steam reviews paint a picture of a fanbase split down the middle, with over 6,300 user reviews resulting in a ‘Mixed’ aggregate score that tells a story of both hope and disappointment.
The criticism is pointed and passionate. Long-time fans are expressing frustration over missing beloved features that defined the original trilogy. “If you’re looking for a true successor to Skate 1, 2, and 3, this isn’t it,” writes one disappointed reviewer. “Aside from the controls, every other gameplay element from the previous titles has been stripped away. No Hall of Meat, no Game of Skate, no missions or storylines with real-life pros.”
Technical issues compound these concerns, with PC players reporting crashes, server problems, and what many describe as poor voice acting. The presence of a “fully functional cash shop inside a 7GB beta” has particularly rankled veterans who remember when Skate games came complete out of the box.
The Defense of Early Access
Not everyone is ready to write off EA’s latest venture, though. Supporters are quick to remind critics about the game’s early access status. “Listen, this game is great. It’s one of the best feeling skate games that we have out right now,” argues one defender. “I understand people are upset about no story mode and missing features but it’s in early access… what don’t people understand about that?”
This perspective highlights the central tension in modern game development: the balance between delivering a complete experience and involving the community in the development process. Full Circle, the developer behind this iteration, has been slowly building the game through closed community playtests since EA’s 2020 announcement, gradually introducing elements including the controversial microtransactions for cosmetic items.
Looking Forward
Despite the mixed reception, there are signs of promise beneath the controversy. Earlier hands-on previews have noted that “the gameplay seems refined and lives up to its predecessors, the world is big and fun to explore, and the overall sandbox’s ‘do what you want’ vibe” captures the spirit that made Skate 3 a lasting favorite over a decade after its 2010 release.
The question facing Full Circle now is whether they can address the community’s concerns while maintaining the core vision that has kept this franchise alive in players’ hearts for so long. Can they balance nostalgia with innovation? Will the missing features return? And perhaps most importantly—will they fix the movement system, or embrace the beautiful chaos that has players rolling faster than skating?
Final Verdict
Skate’s early access launch represents both the potential and pitfalls of modern game development. While the viral rolling techniques provide unexpected entertainment and the core skating mechanics show promise, the absence of beloved features and technical issues create legitimate concerns for longtime fans.
Whether this becomes the worthy successor to Skate 3 that fans have been craving will largely depend on how Full Circle responds to community feedback during this crucial early access period. For now, players seem content to roll, slide, and spread-eagle their way across the maps—sometimes faster than any skateboard could take them.
