Earlier this 12 months, Electronic Arts (EA) and Uncommon Creative Studio constructed a skate park in Mexico Metropolis and invited 100 skaters to carry out tips for a business. The solid saved skating lengthy after the cameras stopped rolling, and by the top, a number of skaters had turn out to be an actual crew. 

“It was a giant celebration,” Unusual inventive Sammy Gold recalled. 

That neighborhood vibe is supposed to reflect the digital expertise of EA’s Skate, which is launching the primary new version of the sport in 15 years. Unusual created the marketing campaign introducing the following chapter of Skate, paying homage to skate tradition and welcoming a brand new technology to affix the sport. 

The Skate reboot is one in all EA’s most anticipated latest launches. Forward of the early entry launch right this moment (Sept. 16), EA obtained multiple million playtest sign-ups, the most important within the firm’s historical past. 

After its preliminary 2007 launch, Skate “grew to become a cult basic. We all know that comes with massive expectations,” mentioned Mark Renken, EA inventive director. 

“Drop In,” the brand new model platform, welcomes viewers into the sport’s fictional metropolis of San Vansterdam, a skateboarding vacation spot comprising 4 distinct neighborhoods, every with its personal distinctive ambiance and challenges. 

“It’s a world open for interpretation and rooted in neighborhood,” Renken mentioned. “We needed to provide gamers a way of possession, broadening the aperture of skateboarding.”

Unusual tried to recreate San Vansterdam in actual life. The advert’s solid are all actual skaters, with expertise together with Yurin Fuji, Jerry Hsu, Ishod Wair, David Gravette, Kiki Kakitani, Sean Malto, Breana Geering, Atiba Jefferson, Alfie Mills, Brayan Coria, and Jackie Michel.

The advert is an homage to basic skate movies, depicting the world by the lens of a skater. It’s a “feel-good piece” that matches the sport’s open and community-driven vibe, mentioned Unusual co-founder Nils Leonard. 

The marketing campaign will span paid social, streaming TV, gaming consoles, and influencers. It continues Unusual’s long-standing inventive partnership with EA, after its 2023 rebrand of EA FC.

Making a secondary place

The primary model of Skate “got here when skate tradition was at its peak” within the early 2000s, Renken mentioned. Whereas different skateboarding video video games of the period have been “arcadey,” Skate supplied a extra grounded expertise that was true to the tradition, he added.