By Brittaney Kiefer

Copyright adweek

Earlier this year, Electronic Arts (EA) and Uncommon Creative Studio built a skate park in Mexico City and invited 100 skaters to perform tricks for a commercial. The cast kept skating long after the cameras stopped rolling, and by the end, several skaters had become a real crew.

“It turned into a big celebration,” Uncommon creative Sammy Gold recalled.

That community vibe is meant to mirror the virtual experience of EA’s Skate, which is launching the first new edition of the game in 15 years. Uncommon created the campaign introducing the next chapter of Skate, paying homage to skate culture and inviting a new generation to join the game.

The Skate reboot is one of EA’s most anticipated recent launches. Ahead of the early access release today (Sept. 16), EA received more than one million playtest sign-ups, the largest in the company’s history.

After its initial 2007 launch, Skate “became a cult classic. We know that comes with big expectations,” said Mark Renken, EA creative director.

“Drop In,” the new brand platform, welcomes viewers into the game’s fictional city of San Vansterdam, a skateboarding destination comprising four distinct neighborhoods, each with its own unique atmosphere and challenges.

“It’s a world open for interpretation and rooted in community,” Renken said. “We wanted to give players a sense of ownership, broadening the aperture of skateboarding.”

Uncommon attempted to recreate San Vansterdam in real life. The ad’s cast are all real skaters, with talent including Yurin Fuji, Jerry Hsu, Ishod Wair, David Gravette, Kiki Kakitani, Sean Malto, Breana Geering, Atiba Jefferson, Alfie Mills, Brayan Coria, and Jackie Michel.

The ad is an homage to classic skate videos, depicting the world through the lens of a skater. It’s a “feel-good piece” that matches the game’s open and community-driven vibe, said Uncommon co-founder Nils Leonard.

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

Creating a secondary place

The first version of Skate “came when skate culture was at its peak” in the early 2000s, Renken said. While other skateboarding video games of the era were “arcadey,” Skate offered a more grounded experience that was true to the culture, he added.

As with previous versions, the new Skate aims to defy stereotypes about the sport’s participants, said Leonard.

“People try to paint skate as punk, like it’s this destructive force. It’s almost the opposite, and it’s innately creative,” Leonard said. “It’s not just about skating, it’s about hanging and the conversations you have and the way you see the world. This game nails that.”

As EA tries to meet the expectations of passionate fans, it also wants to entice new audiences who may feel “this world doesn’t have exactly what we need at all times,” Renken said. Skate is positioned as the antithesis of “overly competitive [gaming] experiences,” he added.

“We think that [Skate] can be that secondary place for people just to hang out, relax, and be with their friends,” Renken said. “Skateboarding and this game are not about how you escape the world; they’re about how you create it for yourself.”