Session Early Access coming this September, signalling the return of skateboarding games at last

Indie studios Crea-ture has officially announced their skateboarding title Session will be available on Steam Early Access as of September 17. After that, it'll be on the Xbox Game Preview program in October and will be released in full by early 2020. With the announcement came a dope trailer featuring game footage set to a hip hop mix.

Session, announced in 2017 to much fanfare, is trying to shake up the skateboarding genre. Created by skateboarding enthusiast and Crea-ture co-founder Marc-Andrew Houde, Session takes the skate game format and smashes it in the streets, replacing button combos with a completely new system - True Stance Stick control, which maps the analog sticks to your skater's feet. I'm ready for the learning curve.

Crea-ture chose not to include any kind of scoring system in Session. Instead, players can progress their character based on the skating style they choose to adopt, with new tricks unlocking as you go (character progression won't be available in the Early Access version of the game). Players can skate through a 1:1 map of Lower Manhattan, including the famous Brooklyn Banks spot seen in the trailer, and character progression will help you access more areas of NYC. You'll also unlock aspects of the video editor, which is a whole VHS vibe - a nod to the '90s skate montage.

Houde is treating Session as a love letter to skate culture, from the music to the visual vibe to Crea-ture's dedication to community - the developer will take feedback throughout the Early Access period and make the necessary adjustments. Houde told

Game Informer "As much as we really want to enjoy the challenge of Session, we don't want to turn it into kind of a private experience for skaters."

Session's Steam Early Access period starts September 17, then drops on Xbox sometime in October. The game in its epic entirety drops early 2020.

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Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.