EA invents new microtransaction nightmare as it breaks paywall promise on Skate: rent a playable area for 24 hours or buy a premium pass, bucko

EA has revealed a big Season 3 roadmap for Skate, but the promising addition of a new map area has been buried in yet more monetization mud. Skate has not only broken its promise of not putting map areas behind a paywall, it's also simultaneously injected a new strain of poison into the economy in the form of rentable areas.

Season 3 of Skate, per EA's blog post, will introduce the Isle of Grom, an expanded area that essentially adds new attractions and environments to the classic tutorial zone. "ALL players will have the opportunity to explore Grom during Season 3," EA proudly announced. But then the caveats come in.

If you buy the new Skate Pass Premium – which, EA boasts, has received more options so you can "choose what works best for you" – you'll get early access to the Isle of Grom from March 10 through April 14.

Following this period, all players can skate Grom from April 14 through May 5.

But then, from May 5 through June 2, you'll need to either buy Skate Pass Premium to enter Grom, or gain access by turning in 500 earnable Rip Chips for a 24-hour ticket that lets you skate in this area temporarily.

"The day pass will be 500 Rip Chips, is valid for 24-hours from the moment you get it, and can be used an unlimited number of times within that 24-hour window," EA explains.

It's one thing to saddle a new area with a tiresome, easily misconstrued, multi-stage rollout that breaks a key promise on monetization – which you really wouldn't expect from EA. But it's another to bookend that rollout with a way to rent a map.

Pressed for an explanation on X/Twitter, the Skate account suggests the game simply had to charge for areas to keep the lights on.

"Launching in Early Access meant we were going to work on the game in public while players played," a response reads. "We want to build this game to last, and it means we will need to make changes as we go sometimes. It also allows us to make improvements like updating our characters, lighting, adding tricks and other things we've changed since September. This change was made to ensure this game sticks around for the long haul."

Separately, the account reiterates: "Yes, sometimes plans have to change. That’s part of the deal when you’re building in public. We're here, we’re listening, and we’re going to keep shaping skate. together."

In a new blog post which attempts to clear the air on what's in development and what's been scrapped, the Skate team outlines other Season 3 additions including tattoos, a new Speedline game mode, cosmetic loadouts, branded Skate Pass content including Vans and adidas, and seasonal events. Yay?

15 years and a nasty IP war with EA can no longer hold back my favorite game after creator decides to turn characters into bunnies for spiritual successor: "Very happy with this development."