While there remains little official information on the upcoming fourth Skate game, simply titled Skate, concerns have quickly spread that it will feature loot boxes. Not just because their inclusion in any game tends to be rather unpopular, but because this goes against a promise EA made last year.
Although Skate will be free-to-play with microtransactions, EA previously said that these will only be for cosmetics. However, dataminers uncovered evidence of a loot box mechanic and, according to a report by Insider Gaming, playtesters claim that these loot boxes, named Swag Bags, have now been added to the game.
From the sound of things, they’re not as egregious as other examples. The only way to unlock Swag Bags is through an in-game Stars currency that can be obtained by completing missions or by exchanging another type of currency called Taps that’s earned through performing tricks and increasing your reputation level. Each loot box contains five items and you can also see what they are before opening one, but you only receive one of those items.
However, if these are in the final game, there is always the possibility that EA will let players pay for loot boxes with real money after Skate launches. It’s a practice that’s been done before, perhaps to ensure more favorable reviews that would otherwise criticize the presence of loot boxes or microtransactions. Activision, for example, launched Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled with no in-game monetization, but later added microtransactions.
EA appears to have caught on to the concerns/complaints as it recently tweeted out a reminder that Skate will feature no paid loot boxes whatsoever, as well as no pay-to-win mechanics. Assuming the Swag Bags are present at launch, they’ll only be available through play and their contents won’t have any meaningful impact on the gameplay. If the game must have loot boxes, this is perhaps the least controversial alternative. Hopefully, with how public EA’s being about this, it won’t go back on its word post-launch.
