'Skate 4' Update: One Tweet, Single Hashtag Stirs Speculations on Much Awaited Sequel Release
With just a single tweet, Electronic Arts managed to stir excitement and speculations that "Skate 4" could be announced soon.
EA Community Team senior manager, Daniel Lingen, was able to make fans of their skateboard simulation game go on a rumor frenzy with just one tweet that contained nothing but a single hashtag – #skate4. Since the tweet was posted last week, it gained more than 24,000 hits as fans replied with funny memes to express how excited they are, hoping that the cryptic tweet is indeed a clear message that "Skate 4" is going to be announced anytime soon. Reports also note that the tweet possibly means something, especially when it comes from a studio boss in charge of their fan-base and community. It is also important to mention that EA's last update about the franchise's future is the complete opposite of what the cryptic tweet implies.
It can be recalled that EA previously addressed a fan through Twitter and clearly said that a "Skate" sequel is not on their job order list. The tweet, dated May 11, 2016, said: "We love the passion our players feel for the Skate franchise. A new game is not in development, but we appreciate your feedback."
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The latest installment, "Skate 3," was originally released in 2010. Reports recount that the title was not as successful as EA hoped it would be, which may explain why the studio did not talk about doing another sequel.
However, the franchise's fate turned around after popular YouTube vlogger PewDiePie (with over 52 million subscribers) posted a series of Let's Play videos of "Skate 3."
The four-part 'Let's Play' videos series features varied from the funny moments to glitches of the gameplay. The series' number of views was astounding, ranging from more than 12 million to 22 million hits.
With that amount of audience, PewDiePie's video stirred up curiosity that benefited "Skate 3" in terms of demands. As proof, EA started to make "Skate 3" discs available again in 2014. In the United Kingdom, "Skate 3" made a giant leap in the charts. From its usual top 40 slot, the game bounced hard and landed at top 20 in August 2014.
"Skate 3" was originally released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Last November 2016, Microsoft ported the game to Xbox One through their Backward Compatibility program.
Unfortunately, during EA's recent quarterly investors call, CEO Andrew Wilson denies the rumor and says the company is "not presently making 'Skate 4.'"
