Art Crit

I think the decision to make Skate crossplay with mobile is what mandated the change in art style and the truncated asset set we have been left with. They needed low polygon models that could be pasted over with the same generic textures so as to make the thing playable on lowest rung platforms - kneecapping the game’s visual fidelity in the process.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they had to lay off their arts team to subsidise cross platform development, as this certainly seems to have happened when you look at the credits. There are whole teams worth of artists (particularly environmental ones,  IIRC) that are listed as ex-devs. That’ll be why they’ve have to fill the gaps with AI slop.

When it comes to the bungled mobile version, I’m more forgiving. I can only imagine that the senior developers have been forced to take this route and are doing the best they can with limited resources. I don’t doubt they’d like to do mobile too, but at the same time? And to the same fidelity, on the same servers? That’s ill-advised on a number of levels, but particularly from a project management front.

In short, it looks very much like EA have confused their audience with the wider market. Everything about this title suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of the gameplay loops and microtransactions which sustain F2P PvP games versus those of F2P sandbox titles. The attempts to make this beloved franchise something it is not has put a millstone around the neck of what could be a great game. Combine that with the bait and switch pulled from early dev content to the present day, and you have a perfect recipe for player fury and lasting reputational damage.

For example… No coach Frank is like No Madden in Football… It’s Gothem City without Batman… It’s GTA/Rockstar mimicry of a ‘sound track’ is lame and disastrous…and shows the absolute ripple effect of not doing any actual market research before bringing the ‘idea’ to market.

I don’t think it’s necessary to have IRL skate pros in the actual game; but IRL skate pros advising the overall development of the game…YES! Could EA spotlight individual pros who are down for this cause…. Absolutely YES. Could skateboarding grow and attract the new generation of shredders…. YES! First IF… EA’s marketing dept pull its head out its collective butt YES! Absolutely!!! 

The reality of the absolute lack of support directly from the ENTIRE SKATEBOARDING INDUSTRY and its collective fans is astounding…Why isn’t Every single company represented? Why not include every type of skating? The simple fact that their’s no nod to Street League Skateboarding, XGames, and even the sport showing up in the Olympics is telling enough…Why haven’t they talked to “Dogtowners… Bones Bridgade…411…Etc” Asked the Skateboard Hall of Fame. Asked the skaters who grew the sport into what it is today? Approached “Coach Frank?” 

 I’m not sure how the game is being lead and managed but it seems to me EA decision makers  are not engaged in the love of the sport and culture so much as in love with their paychecks and careers. Sadly EA has missed the “gold standard” these days attempting to make their “newest title” a skateboarding themed Fortnite remake instead of polishing and improving an Absolute Cult Classic they’d already created with the previous expansions of the Skate Franchise.

. 

They dumbed the entire project down for the mobile version and then were too incompetent during the mobile play-test to even get that version running.  Play-testing for this game was a comedy of errors as they ignored years of feedback.  You can why this flaming wreckage launched in a DOA state with no content, no pro skaters, no customization and no future.  A disgustingly hollow scam tied to live service.