Skip to main content PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES Search PC Gamer View Profile Movies & TV Gaming Industry PC Gaming Show Newsletter Signup Community Guidelines Affiliate Links Meet the team About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99View Oblivion Remastered Baldur's Gate 3 Marvel Rivals EA's Skate reboot is always online, and you know what that means Andy Chalk 25 April 2025 The promised "living, breathing massively multiplayer skateboarding sandbox" sounds great, but what happens when the servers go offline? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Electronic Arts) The good news, according to a newly posted FAQ (via ShackNews) is that EA's upcoming skateboarding sim Skate is still on track for early access release sometime in 2025. The bad news, alas, is that it will require a constant internet connection to play, and an offline mode won't be offered. "The game and city are designed to be a living, breathing massively multiplayer skateboarding sandbox that is always online and always evolving," the FAQ states. "You’ll see bigger things evolve, like changes to the city over time, as well as smaller things, like live events and other in-game activities. In order to deliver on our vision of a skateboarding world, the game will always require a live connection." History gets a little hazy when you reach a certain age, but I feel like concerns over always-online requirements have waxed and waned over the years, as better-than-dialup internet connections have become a lot more accessible than they were, say, 15 or 20 years ago. You may like Ubisoft is keeping its promise to add an offline mode to The Crew 2, and testing begins next week Ubisoft's defense against The Crew lawsuit doubles down on a point we've heard many times before: You don't actually own your games There's been a renewed interest in the topic recently, though, most visibly driven by Ubisoft's decision to shut down The Crew. The backlash to that decision has resulted in legislation, a lawsuit, a new Steam policy, and a broad-based pushback against the erosion of ownership. And that's where Skate's always-online requirement becomes an issue: Bully for you if you have a super-fast, rock-solid internet connection that never gives you a moment's grief, but that means nothing if and when (and let's be honest, it's when) EA decides to pull the plug. Former PC Gamer writer Nathan Grayson summed it up aptly: "If server upkeep becomes a strain on bank accounts, then severing the server is an option (at least in some cases). But that takes work—especially when games are increasingly designed around the online requirement, and some games can't survive a server-ectomy procedure." He wrote that, by the way, in 2011—this is neither a new problem for the industry, nor one it's figured out how to address effectively. In most cases, game servers are taken offline, some number of people get a little angry about it, and we all go on with our lives. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. But with sentiment against that approach coalescing into something more than just online grumbling, it's a little surprising to see a major publisher so blithely insisting on an always-connected requirement without also committing to a failsafe plan for when the servers go away, or at the very acknowledging the inherent limits of that design: No offline mode means no game, and you should govern yourselves accordingly. 2025 games: This year's upcoming releases Best PC games: Our all-time favorites Free PC games: Freebie fest Best FPS games: Finest gunplay Best RPGs: Grand adventures Best co-op games: Better together Electronic Arts Social Links Navigation US News Lead Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Ubisoft is keeping its promise to add an offline mode to The Crew 2, and testing begins next week Ubisoft's defense against The Crew lawsuit doubles down on a point we've heard many times before: You don't actually own your games After another disappointing Project Rene leak I wish EA would finally step in and say anything at all to Sims fans UK government says it won't change the rules on publishers taking videogames offline after selling them: 'We have no plans to amend existing consumer law on digital obsolescence' Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam It sure sounds like Inzoi will be multiplayer—eventually, in some capacity—according to comments by its developers Latest in Sports EA's Skate reboot is always online, and you know what that means Rematch passes 100K Steam concurrents in open beta as 'Rocket League but with feet' turns out to be a winning idea Rematch, the soccer game from the maker of Sifu and Absolver, is holding an open beta this weekend 'Just make a very good game': Sloclap never considered making Rematch free-to-play, and dismisses the idea that online games can't succeed with a price tag Rematch blew away my expectations—trailers don't do Sloclap's 5v5 football game justice Soccer fans should be paying attention to Rematch, the 5v5 game coming this summer from the developer of martial arts hit Sifu Latest in News EA's Skate reboot is always online, and you know what that means Nexus Mods decides to allow an Oblivion Remastered mod that changes 'body type' options to male/female, declares it's not 'a battleground for broader cultural or political debates' We can finally play 2006's flip phone-exclusive Monster Hunter port thanks to the tireless work of game preservationists and fan translators By choosing not to replace Oblivion Remastered's soundtrack, Bethesda made the allegations against composer Jeremy Soule everyone else's problem Modders somehow cranked out a VR mod for Oblivion Remastered mere hours after its surprise launch The new shooter from the former 4A Ukraine studio was supposed to launch today, but instead it got a last-second delay and nobody knows for how long HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most Best 14-inch gaming laptop in 2025: The top compact gaming laptops I've held in these hands Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I've tested Crucial P310 1 TB (2280) review WD Black SN7100 1 TB review Crucial T705 1 TB review Sennheiser HD 550 review Framework 13 AMD AI 300-series review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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