We've been champing for awhile now for EA to unleash the 'flickit' beast. "Where's a new skate.?" I hear people ask, with only tumbleweeds replying in metaphorical kind as they scrape slowly along the ground, motioned by empty gust.

Every year we all sit and hope a new skate. is coming our way, predicting that "it'll be at this EA Play" or, "revealed as part of this new tech demo". "Just you watch," I can be heard mumbling to myself. To no avail.

Well, cat's finally out of the bag, and EA has teased that which we've all been hoping for -- the next skate..

And there's a fair chunk of information embedded in this teaser, which only goes for a miserly 1:15:00, but if you listen carefully, EA has embedded not just the one carrot of the promise of it being worked on, but numerous carrots flavouring what exactly it is going to be. Here are five key takeaways from the teaser:

• It's Early
  We won't see it this year. This is a fairly big apology up front, just to get the speculation out of the way as soon as they can in the small window they've provided. But the video is presented as a behind-the-scenes look into development, even if put together stylishly. It's a clever way of saying "we still cool, but first we have to get the nerd stuff done, so sit tight".
  
  
• This Whole Open-World
  The first three games were connected sandboxes with not a lot to do in them but skate. Which is fine, and even as far back as the OG release, those sandboxes were still incredibly fun to play in. They still hold up, too. Just look at the likes of Skater XL which borrows heavily from the skate. foundation. But the term "open-world" isn't brandished loosely anymore when you consider the size and scale of most open-world games these days. So, we expect a coherent, biome-diverse large open-world filled with things to do based on the reactions in the video, stacked against the modern open-world landscape.
  
  
• You Can Climb
  Further to the open-world exclamation, there are notes and slices of mo-cap footage that suggest getting off the board in this 'reboot' will be a key component of the game. How that works yet remains to be seen (natch), but in conjunction with the revelation below, one thing is abundantly clear -- they better get off-board movement animations and mechanics right, because fucking that shit up can be a straight-up deal-breaker.
  
  
• It Reminds Me of Skate 2
  This is maybe the most telling comment. But also cause for alarm. Skate 2 had good intention as far as "more content" is concerned, but it was delivered poorly in a product that didn't feel wholly finished. But it had direction where skate. didn't. So, what's it going to be? An open-world game with freeform skate options as dictated by the player in similar fashion to Skater XL? Or taking cues from the old nemesis Tony Hawk's Pro Skater? Or a combination of both?
  
  
• Playing with all my Homies will be So Sick
  The obvious takeaway here is multiplayer, but what kind of multiplayer is the bigger question. Like, are we talking shared world ala Riders Republic, or something more akin to the jam sessions of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater remake(s)? What does this mean in the grans scheme of an open-world game? Will you own spots? Can you tag lines for friends? Are there head-to-head challenges? And can you ignore the social aspect of the game and just skate for yourself? Big questions with just the one answer -- you will have other people in your game, we just don't know yet in what capacity.

In addition to the above, we know the game is no longer in Black Box's hands, but rather with Vancouver-based Full Circle which is incidentally looking for a fair bit of help to join the skate. dev cause. So for now, all eyes are on what's revealed next.

This teaser might be just that ahead of a bigger reveal happening during EA Play 2021, or it might just act as a placeholder for the next little while until the team has more to share. Until then, check it out embedded below.