Developer Full Circle has launched a brand new blog series in relation to the development of Skate, and that blog is called The Grind. In the debut post, Full Circle has released details about the playtests that have taken place for the game, stats from those playtests, how the game will function, and details about microtransactions.
It was previously confirmed that Skate will be a free to play title, and now on the back of that Full Circle has stated that there will be no offline mode for the game. In its The Grind blog post, the development team said, “The game and city are designed to be a living, breathing massively multiplayer skateboarding sandbox that is always online and always evolving. You’ll see bigger things evolve, like changes to the city over time, as well as smaller things, like live events and other in-game activities. In order to deliver on our vision of a skateboarding world, the game will always require a live connection. That is probably not much of a surprise if you’ve been in our playtest.”
Speaking of the Skate playtest, Full Circle has confirmed that over 200,000 players have been invited to take part and provide feedback. Another thing about the playtest is that it has had microtransactions active within it. The reason given is so Full Circle can figure out the pricing models that will seem fair to players. Full Circle has also stated that anyone who has spent money in the playtest so far will get the value of that money back in the form of Skate’s premium in game currency San Van Bucks. The game will feature earnable currency called Rip Chips, and there will be no loot boxes. Full Circle has also reiterated that any new areas that get added to the game will be available to all players for free. In terms of some playtest stats, Full Circle has released how many times certain tricks have been performed.
- More than 16 million kickflips including nollie and varials.
- More than 4.8 million 50-50 Grinds landed – nothin’ but bolts!
- The Longest Grind (so far) – more than 200 meters! That’s about 15 school buses!
- More than 40 million Total Wipeouts – Ouch!
- More than 6.5 million Challenges completed
Skate will feature cross play and cross progression. Full Circle has also stated the game is still scheduled to release into Early Access this year, but a release date is yet to be set.
Source: The Grind: Vol 1
