the skate. team is giving its deepest look yet at the evolving city of San Vansterdam and its four vibrant neighborhoods, each brimming with hidden skating gems waiting to be discovered, in its latest The Grind update. 

As a reminder, any player who signed up as a skate. Insider before June 27 will be invited to playtest via email in one of our weekly waves, with the next wave happening today! 

Here’s a quick glance at the neighborhoods below:

• Hedgemont — where players will begin their adventure in San Van. Every grind, challenge and jam session connects players to the city’s bigger story
• The Cathedral of Shreddom — located in the heart of Gullcrest Village, the once holy gathering place has been turned into a communal place of shredding thanks to the San Van City Council 
• Market Mile — located on the beautiful coast of San Van, Market Mile is the home for towering building and a skateboard that’s ready for some throwdowns 
• Brickswitch — a gnarly vertical neighborhood full of kickers, quarter pipes and empty rooftop pools just waiting to be skated in

The Grind: Vol 4

It’s the middle of July and we’ve got another volume of The Grind for ya! In Volume 4, we’re going to dive into the city of San Vansterdam, share some Update 0.27 details, and answer some of the questions you’ve asked in our official Discord Q&A channel. Thanks to everyone for reading last month’s The Grind: Vol 3 and for submitting questions for the dev team via Discord. Don’t forget to join the official Discord to get your questions into the next edition! 

First things first, as mentioned in The Grind: Vol 3, the skate. Insider signup is now closed. Remember: If you RSVP’d before June 27, 2025, you will be invited to playtest in one of our weekly waves. Once you’re in, you’re in until we launch Early Access.

You may have noticed that some of our skate. Player Council members have been sharing videos and clips. We synced up with them and gave them access to 0.27 before it released so they could dive in and create some videos to share with the community.

Reminder: the Council was given special access, but the NDA is still in effect for all Playtesters. We know you’re excited and we’ll have more info on when you can share content in the next volume of The Grind. 

0.27.0 IS LIVE!

We’re really stoked with update 0.27, bringing some major improvements to the playtest, and we’re also inviting every skate. Insider in before Early Access.

With Update 0.27, San Vansterdam has really glowed-up, but we can’t stop, won’t stop. More work is being done by our world builders and our metagame wizards, our in-game events teams, sound geniuses, our narrative designers, UI artists, character creators, everybody. As we head to Early Access, we wanted to share some more details about the city.

San Vansterdam is a growing, evolving city. Early Access is only the beginning - and we’re bringing city-wide events, new activities, and seasonal celebrations with every season in San Van. When you drop in for Early Access, you’ll notice that San Vansterdam has four packed neighborhoods - Hedgemont, Gullcrest,  Market Mile, and Brickswich.

Welcome to Hedgemont

Hedgemont is ground zero - where your journey connects to the bigger story of the city. With the help of Vee, your San Van digital companion,  and our San Van City Council, you’ll learn about Missions, Challenges, Slappy’s shops, skater eyes (how to see the world of skateboarding in everyday objects in San Vansterdam), and more. From line challenges to stunt challenges, Hedgemont will keep you busy. Drop in to a sick skatepark under the bridge or head to the waterfront to throw down some sweet lines. You can even jump on the Skateway - the elevated skater’s path that circles through San Vansterdam - to cruise to the other neighborhoods, or you can chill in Hedgemont and see what’s going on in Northeast San Van. But don’t grow roots - when you’ve completed enough Challenges and Missions, head to Gullcrest Village.

Next up: Gullcrest Village

One of the sickest spots in Gullcrest Village is the House of Rolling Reverence (the church). From the stained glass windows to the fun box where the pews used to be, the SVCC has turned this spot into a communal place of shredding. (You can even launch yourself off the car park garage and fly through the window if you’re daring!) There’s also a sick mini-mega ramp on the top of a building near the church, so look up.

Next up: Market Mile

Tall buildings, elevated walkways, and the coast of San Vansterdam are waiting for you in Market Mile. Don’t let the shiny veneer fool you - there are some hidden (and not-so-hidden) gems here. The skatepark to the left of the neighborhood is ripe for throwdowns, and near the south side, you’ve got a community park to add to and tear it up. 

Next up: Brickswich

Check it out! We’ve got a stadium to grind on, all those curvy lines, and a skatepark off the boardwalk to soak in some sun and throw down some sick lines. Look up when you’re in Brickswich! You may see some skaters flying between those towers. Oh yeah, we also have some choice spots on those buildings with kickers, quarter pipes, and empty pools just ready to be sessioned in. The city is vertical, so get climbing.

Music

Any skater knows that music fuels the flow, and we’ll be sharing details about the official skate soundtrack next month, so get ready! We’ll also talk about how the soundtrack will update throughout the game's lifecycle and more. 

What’s happening with the skate. Insider Playtest?

With Update 0.27, we’re inviting the biggest waves of playtesters to join us in San Vansterdam. The waves started July 2 for those that RSVP’d and will continue weekly until everyone who RSVP’d before June 27 gets an invite.

• July 2 - Already done! 
• July 8 - Already done! 
• July 15 - Hey, that’s today! 
• July 22

Now, even though we sent out emails in June to everyone who signed up previously so they could RSVP, some folks didn’t. Don’t worry - we got you covered and are going to give you another chance to get in, but remember to CHECK YOUR EMAILS.

• Starting July 22, we’ll be sending out daily waves for everyone who didn’t RSVP before June 27 but has signed up to get you into the Playtest. 

In the meantime, here are some game stats we’ve pulled from the skate. playtest from July 2nd - July 6th:

• Single highest line score is 94,009
• Nearly 1500 Throwdowns
• 65K Flat Medium Wood Kickers dropped using Build Kit, with over 210K Quick Drop items used
• Over 240K took a swim
• Most popular spots are Hartcore Plaza, Tri-Towers, and Upper Cut

We've updated social features in skate.’s Update 0.27 to ensure you can throwdown with friends – or make new ones — using the in-game chat wheel and party system, and we’re working on bringing voice chat to skate. so you can focus on your tricks and bust out those sweet lines throughout the city while chatting with the homies. Our in-game Skatepedia received an update, as well. What is Skatepedia? It’s the skater’s guide to excellence, showing you how to pull off perfect nollies and footplants, and then get twisted with some advanced moves like front flips, footplants, handplants and more.  If you ever need a reminder, just open up the menu screen, Settings - Skatepedia, and refresh your memory. As we add to the game, we’ll keep updating Skatepedia.  

A couple of things to remember: Our official Discord is not the spot to share feedback, bugs, and issues - but we DO want you to share them with us. If you’re a playtester, head to the Playtest forums and let us know what’s going on. The feedback we’ve received already helped us get to 0.27, so keep it comin’! We’re on the road to Early Access together, and the road doesn’t end when Early Access releases later this summer. 

Let’s dive into your questions. Keep them coming!

Will there still be a story/campaign?

• So the story of skate. at launch – it’s a story that’s focused around teaching players how to skate and how to make the most of their time in San Vansterdam.
  
  Crush missions, complete Tours, and learn all about the world of which you’re now a part. Because, ultimately, the story of skate. is the story of San Vansterdam and how you, a new arrival to the city, fit in and make your mark. After all, San Vansterdam used to be a skater's haven until M-Corp stripped it for parts and then left for somewhere without an extradition treaty.
  
  But - that’s just the intro. The prologue.
  
  Ultimately, the city will continue to evolve, as will your relationships with the characters who call it home. And, as the story continues to build, you'll see why it's a place that you're not just going to want to skate - but somewhere you're going to want to call home as well.

Will skate. have advanced Replay Editor features like previous games? 

• Creating content in the Skate franchise is a staple for this community, and we’re continually working to improve the Replay Editor features. What we had in the past was great, and we're working to do even more through the live service skate. will bring. The current feature set includes scrubbing, multiple camera angles, exporting video and screenshots, export settings, and disabling the HUD, but we’re not done. More features will be expanding the Replay Editor tool after Early Access launch, and they will be free for everyone.

How will we make sure players have all the appropriate safety/privacy controls? 

• At EA and Full Circle, we believe in the power of Positive Play. In skate, we want to ensure everyone has a great time, but if something goes sideways, it’s important to empower players to let us know quickly. We have EA Javelin anti-cheat monitoring for any unfair gameplay issues and in-game reporting for other issues like griefing. There are also numerous privacy options (blocking teleporting, spectating, and disabling the ability of others to move your Build Kit items). 

Will we be able to host our own servers?

• While player hosted servers won’t be available at the launch of Early Access, they’re definitely something we’re looking to do in the future. We know you want to be able to curate your own space for content creation and set up private sessions with friends in San Vansterdam. As we move through Early Access, we’ll share more details on our plans for private servers and when you can expect them. 

Will I need to have PS+ or Xbox Game Pass Core to play online? (is online subscription to PS or Xbox required?)

• Nope! We want to ensure there are as few barriers to entry as possible, so you won’t need to have PS+ or Xbox Game Pass Core to play online. (You do need to ensure your PSN ID or Gamertag is linked to your EA account.)

Will skate. be available for Mac OS, Steam OS, Proton/Linux systems (handle held PCs like the Steam Deck) for Early Access? 

• We want to bring skate. to as many platforms as possible and will continue to listen to feedback and look at the feasibility of adding new platforms in the future, but for Early Access launch, MacOS, SteamOS, Proton/Linux will not be supported. 

What type of communication options are in skate. for Early Access? Will we have proximity chat? What about text chat? 

• When in San Vansterdam, you’ll be able to communicate with other skaters using the in-game social chat wheel - emotes, stickers, and phrases. You can create public/private parties, and we're bringing voice chat into the game. (Note: age restrictions may apply to certain social features.) We will continue to look at other options for communicating in-game and are always listening to feedback.

Stay tuned. We’re going to be sharing details on the soundtrack of skate. in Vol 5, our New Player Hub is coming to the website, and more.