The secret to a great skateboarding anthem? “You know it when you hear it,” says Matthew Smith, the audio director of EA’s eagerly-awaited reboot of the sports gaming franchise Skate. He’s behind the bumper 95-song playlist that will soundtrack your adventures in the fictional city of San Vansterdam and features hardcore punks Turnstile, the scuzzy grunge of underground heroes Feeble Little Horse and Little Simz’ swaggering ‘Mood Swings’. There’s also Earth, Wind & Fire’s disco funk classic ‘Fan The Fire’. If that sounds eclectic, well, that’s the point. “It speaks to the self-expression that skateboarding culture has always been about.”
Skate is the fourth entry in the long-running franchise and follows on from 2010’s beloved Skate 3. The free-to-play, live-service multiplayer title launched in Early Access last week, giving players the chance to drop in to a rough and ready version of the game, as well as help shape future development. Right now, you can explore the open-world however you want. Complete death-defying challenges, rack up half-pipe high-scores or just hang out with your mates – it’s all really fun!
“We want San Van to become this destination for people to come and rinse away all the crap and anxieties they’re carrying from their day-to-day lives,” Creative Director Deran Chung tells NME. “I know if I’m having a shitty day, a good song can really affect my mood,” so the game is full of uplifting bangers. Read on as Smith and Chung explain exactly how the game came together – and where the series will go next.
There are no rules to what makes a ‘Skate’ banger
The Skate team never wrote down a list of rules for what would or wouldn’t work on the soundtrack, it was a simple case of “can you imagine yourself skateboarding to this track?” If the answer was yes, then it was a contender. “We had to make sure it wasn’t this narrow, stereotypical collection of songs though,” says Smith.
“The word that kept cropping up was ‘juxtaposition’,” continues Chung. “If you’ve got all these alternative indie rock tracks, you need something else that sounds completely fresh, otherwise the whole thing would just feel samey. That’s the anti-vision of what we want to do.”
Turnstile’s snarling ‘New Heart Design’ was an obvious choice. “Those dudes skate and they’re having a pretty big moment right now, so of course we were going to include them,” says Chung. Skegss’ ‘Out Of My Head’ and Amyl And The Sniffers’ ‘Facts’ were both easy additions as well because the team are all big Aussie rock fans. After Animal Collective’s inclusion on Skate 3, vocalist Panda Bear reached out and told the team he wanted to play the rebooted game as soon as possible, so adding one of his solo tracks was a no-brainer. Apparently several other artists have been blowing up the team’s DMs about getting involved. “There’s this element of fandom in both directions which is really special,” says Chung.
The game celebrates new music
The Skate soundtrack features a handful of classic artists (Pointed Sticks, Vandals, Baby Huey) but the emphasis is on new, underground talent. “It’s all about discovery. It’s a strange time for music because you’re only a couple of clicks away from hearing any song ever recorded but people are finding it harder than ever to discover new music,” says Smith. “I don’t think I’m the only person nostalgic for going to a record store and browsing their collection – and that’s what we want this to be.”
The carefully-curated playlist is split into three to reflect the different areas of San Van but there’s also music to be discovered while skating about – be that from a passing car, a restaurant or from a speaker in a skate park. If you like what you hear, you can add it to your own playlist with Grabster – a tongue-in-cheek riff on infamous filesharing site Napster. You can also create your own collection of favourites which will feed into a public playlist of the Skate community’s most-liked songs.
‘Skate’ doesn’t want to borrow from iconic ‘GTA’ or ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’ soundtracks
Skate isn’t the first big name game Matthew Smith has worked on. He previously spent 11 years at Rockstar as Audio Director for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, GTA 4 and GTA 5, which all use music to brilliant effect with their eclectic, in-game radio stations. “Music touches people in a really powerful way and a great soundtrack just brings people in and makes them feel welcome,” he says of the lessons he’s brought to Skate. “You want to introduce people to new things but also give them touch points of familiarity.”
Chung has a running list of songs he wants to add but the first thing he checks is whether it’s already been used in a Grand Theft Auto game. “In skateboarding, if someone uses a song in one of their videos, you’re not supposed to use it again, so there’s a little bit of that,” he grins. The same rule applies to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.
“We love those games and grew up playing them, but that’s their territory,” Chung explains. “Also, if players have already heard that song a million times [in a Pro Skater title], I don’t necessarily want them to listen to it again in our game. There’s enough music in the world. And I like the challenge of finding other stuff that’s just as good.”
The soundtrack will constantly change
The plan is for Skate to be an ever-evolving world and that includes the music. Every few months a “significantly heavy batch” of songs will be replaced by new choices. “If there’s an outcry because one particular song left, there’s definitely the opportunity of making it permanent or bringing it back,” promises Chung. The team are also “always listening” to suggestions from fans. “We’ve discovered some real gems by doing that,” adds Smith.
The biggest live-service game around is Fortnite, which has teamed up with a number of artists for virtual concerts while its rhythm-based spin-off Fortnite Festival has hosted seasonal takeovers from Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter and Gorillaz. Smith says there’s “nothing to talk about in the short term” for anything similar happening in Skate. “It seems like a really natural place for us to explore though,” says Chung.
The team also aren’t following EA Sports FC 26 by allowing players to replace the in-game music with their own Spotify playlists. “We’ve talked about it a lot and there are lots of boring challenges with tech and licensing,” says Smith. “Mostly though, we want Skate to have an opinion. It’s not just a generic, bland thing where you bring in a little bit of everything. It’s got its own taste and that felt really really important.”
‘Skate’ is out now in Early Access for PlayStation, Xbox and PC