Skate is EA’s own skateboarding IP and it’s done remarkably well thanks to its analogue stick-based tricks. Action sports is an ”ongoing exciting genre”.
”When it comes to action sports, I think that’s going to be an ongoing exciting genre,” Riccitiello said. ”But at least for the level of excitement out there, skateboarding seems to have run its course as the representative example in that broader genre.”
Activision has suffered very low sales of Tony Hawk’s latest instalment while EA’s Skate by comparison has been received well but has never managed to capture the same levels of fanfare that the Tony Hawk franchise did in the beginning.
NBA Jam is a prime example of action sports doing well outside skateboarding, noted Riccitiello. The EA boss also sees the music genre as one to recover either because of an ‘innovation’ yet undiscovered or by going dance-based.
Is skateboarding no longer the action sports hero?