When is the Skate 4 release date? In case you weren’t around for the turbulent time between Skate 3 and 4, the development team behind Skate 3 was disbanded after a bombardment on EA message boards with questions about the series and its potential return ever since. Since Skate 4’s reveal back in 2020, EA has been surprisingly open about the game’s development process, giving fans a rare glimpse into the inner workings of its studio.
The first Skate was among the most innovative skateboard games, from its analog control scheme and semi-open-world game structure to its more realistic, less edgy representation of the skating scene. Here’s what we know about the Skate 4 release date, including details on early access, any changes to the gameplay, and much more.
Skate 4 release date estimate
There is no official Skate 4 release date just yet, but we believe the game is going to launch in 2026. Skate 4 is set to launch on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
With the early access period starting this September, the developers will spend at least half a year optimizing the game, leading us to believe the full game won’t be out for quite a while yet. Now that we’ve seen the Skate 4 roadmap, it appears the developers want to spend a minimum of six months adding more content to the early access game.
The latest early access development update video (as shown above) reveals the game in its current state, featuring more than double the number of cars and pedestrians compared to previous builds. The UI has also been improved, and the number of players in each server has increased to 150.
Skate 4 early access release date
Skate 4 will launch into early access on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, as confirmed by the official Skate website. The early access version will be available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 4 and 5.
While Sony doesn’t typically allow early access games on its platform, it appears Skate 4 is one of the few exceptions to this. The game is scheduled to arrive on both iOS and Android devices, but this will take place after the early access launch. The early access release features cross-progression, making it easy to swap between any of your chosen platforms.
Skate 4 early access roadmap
Here’s everything coming to the Skate early access:
- Season 1 (October 2025): Two seasonal events (Skate-o-Ween and 7-Play Maple Harvest), a skate.pass (battle pass), and quality-of-life improvements to the HUD.
- Season 2 (December 2025): Two seasonal events, a new co-op game mode, party voice chat, improvements to the replay editor, and new gameplay tricks (impossibles and improved handplants).
- Season 3 (beyond 2025): New game modes, player created parks, more character slots (tattoos), new gameplay tricks (darkslides and improved footplants), and leaderboards.
Skate 4 gameplay
Skate should feel recognizable to anyone who has ever played any of the previous games in the series in terms of the types of tricks you can pull off and how you execute them. You can see grabs, grinds, flips, and rotations—the way the character models transition between them all looks relatively smooth and very familiar.
There are a lot of off-board traversals, too. We can see players running around, jumping, climbing ladders, and even using grind rails like balance beams. The physics engine allows for some weighty rag dolls, so expect the Hall of Meat to return at some point.
The Grind: Vol 4 was published in July 2025, detailing more information about the game, including confirmation that there is a campaign, but it’s limited to teaching players about San Vansterdam and tutorials on how to skate.
We also learned that there’s a replay editor, just like the old games, and it’s going to be expanded in future updates after early access. The devs are aware of the demand for the game on handheld PCs, but it looks like Skate 4 early access isn’t playable on devices like the Steam Deck.
Skate places greater emphasis on community-created content, featuring improved level editing tools to encourage collaborative building where co-op players can join together to start hurling different things together before trying to skate it.
In addition to user-generated content, Full Circle’s looking to add some new tricks of its own – literally. As per The Board Room episode 4, the studio has been working on introducing “wallies, slappies, boned ollies, variable speed flip tricks, and held flip tricks.” This is unsurprising, considering how much modern skating has evolved in the past decade since the release of Skate 3.
Of course, the process of adding new mechanics and making them feel intuitive to players isn’t simple. Not only does the developer need to figure out how it wants the trick to look, but also how it’ll nestle into various combinations and the game’s environment. Full Circle says that it wants to ensure players have “an ever-expanding toolbox of choices” in San Van, so we can perhaps expect new tricks to be progressively added post-launch.
Skate 4 offline mode
Full Circle has confirmed that Skate 4 will not feature an offline mode as the game requires an active internet connection. In response to this question, here’s what the developers had to say: “The game and city are designed to be a living, breathing massively multiplayer skateboarding sandbox that is always online and always evolving. In order to deliver on our vision of a skateboarding world, the game will always require a live connection.”
Skate character customization
In episode 5 of The Board Room, the developers went into detail about how players will be able to customize their skaters in the new game. For the first time in the series, all skaters are genderless, providing players with every clothing option by eliminating any form of gender-exclusive garments.
There are plenty of deck art options available, and players have access to stickers to place on top of their deck art to make each deck unique. Like the previous games, you have the option to change the color of your wheels to match the art on your board.
In terms of clothing options, players can unlock a special all-black suit with a skeleton printed on it. There’s a golden skeleton suit in particular which appears to be difficult to unlock, but this has given the outfit a level of prestige among the community. It’s unclear whether every piece of clothing will be unlockable, or exactly how players can unlock the currency to purchase clothing.
While certain outfits can be unlocked, it appears all clothing options will be available in an in-game store. This gives players a chance to purchase any clothes without having to spend hours trying to grind for currency. The devs have mentioned they are working with specific brands to bring authentic clothing to the game, including a collaboration with Vans to add its iconic shoes to Skate.
Skate 4 setting
We’ve visited a few skateboarding metropolises throughout the series, but Skate 4 is set in a whole new location: San Vansterdam. And yes, that’s quite an obvious reference. Cuz Parry refers to it as a sister city to San Vanelona, the setting from the first two games. You can read more information about the Skate map in our dedicated guide, breaking down each of the neighborhoods in the game.
What we do know now is that there is a new level of verticality in San Vansterdam. Skaters can “flump” up walls allowing them to reach higher levels, and you may even be able to find a secret hidden gem before anyone else, as there is an incredible amount of world to explore.
Skate 4 activities
Activities in Skate will constantly evolve and change, giving you something new to explore. They’re grounded in Skate 4’s reality, meaning they can be out of the ordinary. Activities are also designed to support the community and involve all players, regardless of skill level.
Some activities currently being worked on and tested are challenges – which players will be familiar with if they’ve ever set foot in a Skate game before. Challenges are short, solo experiences that will rotate in and out of the game with minor changes.
Pop-ups are dynamic events situated around the city that bring people together, which are not “super long or super hard”. An example is a requirement of gaining a 50,000 score as a group, and aim to attract players to one area of the game. Throwdowns encourage people to gather at any time to show tricks and show off. This enables players to put an activity wherever they find a cool space to have light, competitive fun.
Community Events are the final type of activity being worked on currently and allows for “pretty crazy” things to happen. The devs want players to think of these as games at a carnival. They’re light-hearted and fun events.
Skate 4 story
Skate 2 fans will be pleased to know that Skate 4 appears to be going back to its anti-corporate roots – at least, based on the ‘An Update from M-Corp’ posted in June 2024. Starring sketch show ‘I Think You Should Leave’ co-creator Tim Robinson as investment conglomerate M-Corp representative Richie Dandle, the skit asks all the important questions such as ‘if M-Corp was doing something bad, would we be making vest?’
By the sounds of things, M-Corp is doing plenty bad, not least introducing the devilishly devious ‘Knob Day,’ which involves attaching knobs to anything a budding skater could grind on. According to the ad-laden M-Corp website, Knob Day is crucial to “community safety and aesthetic standards,” though we all know it’s more bad than rad.
From the gameplay snippet at the end of the video, we can see a big old screen showing the news bulletin “M-Corp abandons city,” indicating that the firm’s going to operate similarly to Skate 2’s Mongocorp – that’s got to be a rebrand… Though details of how you’ll play into the narrative are thin on the ground, we can expect to enjoy plenty of classic comedic Skate beats.
Skate 4 insider playtest
The Skate 4 insider playtest was first available to select players back in 2022 and was exclusive to PC. Over the years, the developers have used the feedback from these players to improve the game’s feature set and gameplay. With the early access release, the insider playtest has officially ended.
Is Skate 4 free to play?
Yes, Skate 4 is a free-to-play game and it’s live service to boot. As you might expect, the free-to-play model means there are microtransactions. Developer Full Circle says there will not be any gameplay-altering items you can purchase, or loot boxes for that matter. This leaves cosmetics on the table as the main thing players might be able to spend their money on.
Skate 4 or Skate?
Technically, it’s not even called Skate 4 — it’s Skate. But let’s face it, everyone is looking at this as Skate 4, so that’s what we’re going with until Skate catches on again.
And that’s all you need to know about the Skate 4 release date estimate. If you’re seeking thrilling experiences, browse through our best sports games list to find something extreme. We also have a list of excellent free PC games just like Skate 4 if you’re low on cash.
