Skate 4 playtest sign-ups are now open and we finally have official gameplay

Skate 4 playtests are now officially coming, and you can sign up today. 

The official Skate Twitter shared the news earlier today, along with just over a minute of gameplay footage described as "pre-pre-pre-alpha." A video disclaimer stresses that "things might look a little differently than you're expecting, but we're still working on it." The models and environments are definitely looking a little low-poly – not unlike the pre-alpha footage which leaked a few months ago – but the actual skating looks solid, and that's what we're here for. 

We're also here for the closed playtest sign-ups, which you can access over on the game's official EA page. 

"As a Skate insider, you have the chance to play early versions of the game and provide feedback throughout our development journey," the sign-up blurb reads. "We need to scale access to Skate gradually as development progresses to ensure a smooth experience, and that means we can’t guarantee how soon you’ll get to play." 

The sign-up queue is live on a separate page, and based on the 30 - 50 minute wait times we're seeing at the time of writing, the first wave of Skate 4 playtests will be pretty contested. 

The Skate 4 playtest FAQ affirms that the game is still "very early in development" and that playtest access will expand as development progresses. EA says it also "can't share a roadmap of when playtests will occur" since dates aren't set in stone. 

"That means we can’t guarantee how soon you’ll get to play," the FAQ adds. "We will be inviting players to participate in playtesting based on varying factors defined by our goals for testing at that time in development." 

Skate 4 playtests will initially only be available on PC via Origin, but EA says it's looking to include more platforms in the future. For now, your best bet is to hop in the queue and be ready to sign up when you're actually allowed into the site. 

EA previously said Skate 4 is "launching soon," but it looks like it's being pretty generous with the word soon.