Electronic Arts Added Microtransactions to New Skate Before Early Access

Skate, a skating simulator from Electronic Arts’ Canadian studio Full Circle, is still in closed alpha, but that hasn’t stopped the company from adding microtransactions to the game.

Image source: Electronic Arts

As reported by Insider Gaming, citing a new notification for test participants, the closed alpha of Skate now has the ability to purchase premium currency – San Van Bucks.

The addition of monetization at this stage (even before the release of early access) is explained by the desire to achieve a positive user experience when purchasing goods from the in-game Skate store.

That same notification

EA warns that due to the testing status of the current build of Skate, users may experience a partial or full reset of their progress. Money spent will be returned to the account in the form of San Van Bucks at the start of early access.

Reddit user Artistic_Bat1531 has broken the non-disclosure agreement of test participants and shared details of the current version of monetization:

• Individual customization items cost between 200 and 600 “bucks,” and a full set (mask, hoodie, shorts, board, sticker, and spray paint) costs 2,350 units of premium currency;
• San Van Bucks are sold in packs of 500 (C$6.99), 1,050 (C$13.49), 3,000 (C$33.99), 6,250 (C$66.99) and 13,000 (C$133.49).

While microtransactions in games are nothing new, introducing monetization during alpha seems odd. Also, developers usually give players some premium currency for testing and feedback.

Skate will be released in early access before the end of 2025 on PC/consoles and will be conditionally free. The game will be the first release in the series in the last 15 years – Skate 3 was released back in 2010.