Skate developer shows ‘pre-alfa’ footage with parkour and starts closed beta

EA studio Full Circle has shown a trailer with ‘pre-pre-prealfa’ footage of skate. In the trailer, the developer shows parkour-like tricks and multiplayer. In addition, the game maker announces a closed play test.

The images range from rough environments without textures to detailed buildings and city squares with post-processing. The footage also features various animations, from stuttering bug-filled movements to smoother transitions between skateboard tricks.

The trailer also shows gameplay elements. In previous skate games it was already possible to walk around the game world without a skateboard; in skate this appears to have been expanded to include additional parkour elements, such as running through walls and climbing horizontal racks. The footage also appears to include multiplayer.

In the video, Full Circle says it listens to players’ wishes, citing wishes such as crossplay, “realistic audio” and climbing to high places. In response to the latter, Full Circle says it wants to give players more freedom and shows the developer images of high, climbable objects.

To get more fan feedback, Full Circle is starting an insider play testing. This closed test is currently only available for PC players and will gradually be opened up to more players. The developer emphasizes that skate is still in a very early stage of development and that players will be invited to a beta “much sooner” than usual.