The highly anticipated upcoming reboot of the Skate franchise is reportedly considering adding loot boxes. Often referred to as Skate 4 among fans, but branded simply Skate by the developers at Electronic Arts, the reboot's announcement in 2020 came as a major surprise. After all, it's been over a decade since the release of Skate 3, and Skate developer EA Black Box's 2013 closure still stands out in memory. It seems EA's gamble on a new Skate release may be dependent on controversial monetization.EA's Skate reboot is currently being made by a new studio named Full Circle, based out of British Columbia. Very little has been announced about the game, but one detail that has been confirmed is that Skate will be a free-to-play game. The pressures on a new studio to perform can be tremendous, especially if it's free-to-play and entirely reliant on systems-based monetization to turn a profit. Skate was always at risk of moving in a direction not in line with what players wanted.According to a report from Insider Gaming, EA and its Skate reboot may be considering just that. Playtesters for the current in-development version of Skate are stating that the game currently features a monetized system called "Swag Bags." Swag Bags can be purchased with an in-game currency named Stars, earned through completing gameplay tasks. Stars can also be acquired by exchanging another currency named Taps, which playtesters believe will be a Skate premium currency.
The Swag Bags will be familiar to those who have played the original Overwatch, Apex Legends, or other games that feature loot boxes -- with some notable differences. There are said to be different types of loot boxes, 16 in total in the current game. Each type has five items within, which players will be able to see before purchase. A purchase randomly awards just one of these five items, and can potentially reward duplicates that will turn into a crafting currency.
Long story short, Skate's Swag Bags are loot boxes. If the leaks are accurate, players will be able to spend real money to gamble for item drops in the new Skate game. Some players will earn the item they want quickly, while most others won't. That's the problematic nature of loot boxes. The odds will always be in EA's favor.
It bears repeating that this is a leak regarding an in-development state of the new Skate game. Not only could the leak be inaccurate or outright false, developer Full Circle and EA could still change their minds before Skate's eventual release. The outcry against loot boxes was once very loud, but has quieted as more games stopped using the gambling-based monetization. It remains to be seen whether Skate fans will push back against loot boxes.
Skate is currently in development.