EA offers an early look at Skate footage and announces playtest sign-ups

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a decade since Skate 3 was released. Developer Full Circle has been working on bringing the series back with a new entry, which we got a first unofficial look at back in April. Now, publisher EA has given us a less leak-oriented look at the game with a new video, as well as announcing playtest signups so Skate fans to get the chance to try upcoming game out themselves. What with the likelihood of the other Tony Hawk remake not seeing the light of day, this is pretty good news.

However, Skate isn’t remotely close to finished. The new video kicks off (heh) by warning that the footage is “pre-pre-pre-alpha.” In case that seems like hyperbole, the video then displays the footage in all its glory, with untextured locations and models as well as rough animations shown in a PC window. When they “pre-pre-pre-alpha” it means pre-pre-pre-alpha, I guess. Still, the video shows off a lot of the promise offered by a triple-A skating game in this day and age, which is something we haven’t seen in quite some time.

Get on your boards and ride

As for the Skate playtest, you can already sign up to take part. The page makes it clear that, again, the work is still very early on. Anyone who takes part anytime soon is going to be getting hands-on with something more akin to the below footage than a game that’s near release. Playtests will continue throughout the game’s development as well, so it looks like EA wants to incorporate user impressions to help ensure that the community is happy with the quality standards prior to launch.

You have to sign into EA Playtesting and then go from there. All playtests on PC will be through Origin, so keep that in mind before you start crossing your fingers.