A cracked playtest build of EA’s long awaited Skate 4 appeared online recently, though rumours swirled about its legitimacy. Was it the real deal? Was this actually an internal build that has somehow found its way into the wild?
The answer, it seems, is yes. EA is now asking players not to download the cracked build, which would appear to confirm its authenticity. The plea comes in the latest developer blog titled “an update from the team” via the official Skate 4 blog.
“We’re aware of an earlier version of the game that has been distributed without our authorisation,” reads the post. “This build is from September 2021 and was never intended for external use. While we understand you’re excited to get into the game, we encourage you to be careful when downloading files from unknown sources (and remind you of the potential consequences of breaking EA’s Terms of Service).”
That last part isn’t an idle threat. Footage from the cracked 2021 build of Skate 4 began to proliferate across Reddit, starting on the GamingLeaksAndRumours sub. EA successfully pulled the video and appears to have gotten a ban on the account that posted it. This, of course, has not stopped loads of videos of the build in motion from being uploaded to YouTube.
If you’d like to play Skate 4 early, but in a much more legitimate fashion, EA opened playtest signups last month. These playtests are closed and will be subject to an NDA, so you can’t go talking about the game on social media without copping a ban. If you absolutely can’t wait to play it though, consider signing up. Players will be granted access to the insider build in small but regular waves.
The team says it will have more information on the game’s current state during a stream scheduled for Friday morning called The Board Room. That stream will kick off on Friday, July 15 at 2:00 am AEST.
Skate 4 (which EA is simply calling skate) currently has no release date. It will launch on PlayStation and Xbox platforms, and Windows PC.
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