Skate 2 Servers Killed Just As Game Makes Comeback

The good news first: EA’s classic Skate 2 is one of the over 70 games coming to the Xbox Series X/S’s backwards compatibility list. The bad news? It’s going to be missing its online multiplayer shortly afterwards, because EA is turning off the game’s servers next month.

In a kind of move that I don’t remember ever seeing before, the official Skate account managed to somehow do the “good news/bad news” thing in a single tweet + reply, posting this masterpiece earlier today:

Additionally, we’re providing a heads up that on December 10, 2021, we will be turning off the Skate 2 online servers for PlayStation and Xbox. It’s not an easy decision and not something we take lightly. For more info check: https://t.co/98V9WH3W8C

— skate. (@skate) November 15, 2021

Just look at those tweets. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

This isn’t a disaster; I’d guess most people probably played Skate in singleplayer, and that during a 2021 renaissance this pattern would likely continue. This decision wouldn’t have come out of thin air, after all, and is likely based on data that says “nobody is playing this game online, ever”. The game’s Create-a-Spot feature, for example, seems to have been dead since 2014, despite fans occasionally prodding EA about it.

But then that was before it got this new lease of life on Series X/S, and with interest in the series picking up again following the new game’s announcement, it might have been cool to at least give Skate 2 a few more months at least before pulling the plug. After all, it’s been nearly 13 years since the game was first released, what difference would another six months have made?

If you missed it, here’s the full list of games included in Microsoft’s backwards compatibility announcement earlier today:

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

Aces of the Galaxy

Advent Rising

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Make the Grade

Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth

Bankshot Billiards 2

Beautiful Katamari

Binary Domain

Black College Football Xperience: Doug Williams Ed

Cloning Clyde