Is Skate 4 Pay-To-Win? Dataminers Find 'Swag Bag' Loot Boxes

Recently revealed during the stream hosted by Electronic Arts (EA) on 14th July 2020, Skate 4, now known as "skate.," has arguably become one of the most highly anticipated upcoming titles.

Bringing back an old classic, the developers promised its fans the game wouldn’t be pay-to-win despite being free-to-play. And generally, there wouldn’t be any purchasable loot boxes with game-altering advantages taking over most of Skate 4’s gameplay.

Unfortunately for fans, EA’s promise might’ve just gone down the drain with the latest data-mined evidence showing a new in-game currency and loot box.

Are Skate 4's Microtransactions Pay To Win?

Across the community, free-to-play games are arguably a curse in disguise. Mostly filled with microtransactions and almost endless cash-grab deals pocketing gamers’ wallets, free-to-play titles might not be as chargeless as they seem. 

Generally, there’s a fine line between microtransactions in free-to-play games: purchases that merely serve as cosmetic enhancements versus transactions providing significant advantages within a game.

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The latter usually comes across as microtransactions featuring mechanics, items, etc., providing unfair advantages and putting the player ahead of others. From there, it slowly snowballs into a contest between players buying the most microtransactions, which is how free-to-play games become pay-to-win titles.

This outcome was something fans of the Skate series feared during the preview release. But after EA pushed aside those remarks, stating that it would void the game of beneficial microtransactions, it seemed Skate 4 would be pretty good. Sadly, it might’ve all been a sham.

Via a Reddit post on 16th July 2022, dataminer PatFennis shared two shocking discoveries about Skate 4. The first noted its in-game currency, and the second showed purchasable loot boxes. The leak showed the latest currency system called “Taps,” which is most likely used as Skate 4’s overall payment method.

Following Taps, 'Swag Bags' are loot boxes containing a random unlockable item inside. Once a player’s opened a Swag Bag, they can use the item and check it out in the Build Kit and Customization Screens. Both seem to be microtransaction-related.

However, before Skate fans turn tail, EA did say there wouldn’t be any paid loot boxes with gameplay advantages. It’s hard to say for sure, but the leaked in-game mechanic, Taps, could merely be an overtime currency collected by playing Skate 4.

It's worth noting that they did say "No paid loot boxes" and this is technically correct.

It'll be interesting to see how they monetize. My bets are on a Battle Pass where some of the tiers will be "X amount of Taps" to get around buying taps directly lol pic.twitter.com/0kcwUdlng7

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) July 16, 2022

Regardless, fans should still expect some sort of microtransaction with their purchase. Per a Tweet by notable leaker Tom Henderson, these could comprise Battle Pass tiers "where some of the tiers will be 'X amount of Taps' to get around buying Taps directly."

But again, only time will tell once Skate 4 is officially released, or more information about it arrives. We'll keep you posted regarding any further developments.

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Featured image courtesy of EA Sports.