Players who want to play EA’s Skate, an upcoming skateboarding title, must have an active internet connection, as it is intended to be a live-service, massively multiplayer sandbox. By choosing the persistent online model, Skate attempts to create a living, constantly evolving world with real-time events and community-driven content.

Skate occurs in the made-up city of San Vansterdam and has original game locations known as CollaboZones, which are designed by players and can be seen immediately in the world of other players. Skate is expected to support free-to-play and flawless cross-platform play and save sync to all platforms, such as PC, console, and mobile. Cosmetic items will be the main source of revenue, with no pay-to-win purchase impacting the balance of the game.

However, the lack of an offline feature in the game has raised concerns from many players. If the servers shut down in the future, the game may no longer be playable; thus, fans started to doubt its longevity. The issue has become more evident by taking examples from previous server shutdowns, such as The Crew from Ubisoft, raising questions about who controls digital content and what is entailed with being always online.

Even though game developers promise regular updates, the absence of an offline mode is still a controversial issue. Going into its early access launch in 2025, players are already demanding Skate to come with an offline mode for its playability and longevity.

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