SKATE adds microtransactions despite still being in closed alpha

Back in 2022, EA officially announced that they were reviving the long-dormant Skate franchise. With the game planned to launch some time this year, the team have been hosting a bunch of closed alpha tests. In a not-so-surprising move, despite being in an alpha state, EA has now added microtransactions into Skate.

As reported by Insider-Gaming, EA recently sent a message to all the early alpha testers in which they announced the introduction of microtransactions into Skate – with it reading as follows:

“To ensure we achieve these goals at Early Access we have enabled the option to purchase and use virtual currency (San Van Bucks) in our ongoing Closed Alpha playtest. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated in providing a great experience at Early Access launch.”

To be somewhat fair to EA, Skate is planned to be a free-to-play title upon its full release, and so it would expectantly include microtransactions.

That said, even if this is being used to test the stability of the service, it is somewhat of a bad look to feature such monetisation during Skate’s pre-released state.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this latest move by EA? Is it anything to be worried about? Could a free-to-play format work well? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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