Summary
WhenElectronic Arts' long-awaitedreboot of its seminal skateboardingfranchise,Skate, goes into Early Access later this year, it won’t have an “Offline” mode. Rather, players will have to maintain a constant Internet connection in order to play the game.
In a blog post shared online, the company affirmed that the game is meant to be “a living, breathing massively multiplayer skateboarding sandbox that is always online and always evolving.” In other words, no Internet, no play.
The full reasoning as to why the game won’t have an offline mode is as follows:
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.
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.
Naturally, that bit of news hasn’t sat well with fans who were hoping to experience the title without having to be tethered to the Internet.
The Original Skate Titles Did Not Force Always Online Connectivity
Taking to Reddit, fans of the skateboarding sim immediately rallied against the news. “Like someone else said, it’s only a matter of time until we hear ‘Skate servers will be shut down March 30th 2028’ Why would you not add an offline mode?“one user wrote.
As gamers have unfortunately come to know, nothing lasts forever, and server shutdowns ultimately spell doom for games that don’t have a dedicated offline mode.
“This is a Major L,“one user wrote in part.
Elsewhere, another user pushed back against the idea that the game couldn’t work as a solo experience. “There is literally no reason that I shouldn’t be able to play in the same city but empty,“they explained. “Sure, it might be lonelier, but there really isn’t a lot of player interactions to be had in a skate game.”
Perhaps the fan reaction will force EA’s hand down the line. However, as it stands, it looks like this will be the only way to play when the game does launch.
