Skateboarding video games are a hell of a superb time and EA’s current skate, the free-to-play title aiming to reboot EA’s once-cherished sequence, is attempting to lure people again into the thrills of digital ollies and kickflips. And since it’s a free-to-play sport from a AAA writer in 2025, it’s obtained microtransactions and seasons and all that stuff. Whereas we principally tolerate this silliness in video games these days, some stuff is simply too costly and too ugly to go with out remark.
As a substitute of throwing cash on the display screen for a pores and skin of house zombie-stomper Isaac Clarke from Lifeless House, followers of skate have taken to the web to throw shade on the builders for promoting such an unpleasant model of Clarke for $35 bucks (h/t comrade Pitts at GameSpot). That’s like, an entire meal at Taco Bell as of late (with perhaps a drink for those who’re fortunate). It’s additionally the worth of many full, full video games you may play from begin to end. That’s in all probability what’s left people so sore: skate. Is the kind of sport you would as soon as plunk down a reasonable sum for and be performed with it, however is now one more nagging pockets leech attempting to financial institution in your nostalgia.
You should purchase 3 Lifeless Sapce video games with that cash (and possibly 3 Skate video games)
— Diogo Rodrigues (@Rodrigues_520) October 7, 2025
The state of affairs reminds us simply how far we’ve come from an period of gaming that felt extra respectful of our money and time. One fan over on r/SkateEA factors out that 2010’s Skate 3 had an Isaac Clarke pores and skin–however it was free and appeared extra devoted to the character’s look within the unique sport.
It’s an actual disgrace as skate appears to be like like a superb time in any other case, stuffed with the entire loopy stuff we’ll by no means have the ability to do in actual life on a skateboard.
And as one other fan on Reddit opines, the sport’s battle go (skate go?) simply incorporates “ugly equipment and clothes together with phoned in feeling graphics for decks” as a substitute of stuff from precise skate manufacturers. And if ever there was an business that was ripe for having its aesthetics minimize up and bought in little bits, it’s the skateboard business. With its varied legendary designs, from the epic birds of Birdhouse Skateboards to the beautiful paintings discovered in your common Aspect board (which used to my model of selection again within the day), there’s a ton of cool designs that might be packaged into the sport as a becoming tribute to the business. I’d nonetheless be aggravated if these value $35 a chunk, however no less than they’d really feel a little bit extra related.
C’mon, EA.
