The latest mid-season update for skate. is here, and with it comes a shift in how some of the game’s content is gated. In its official Season 3 dev update, EA confirmed that you will now be able to play the tutorial island, Isle of Grom, in Season 3. The only way to do it before was to make a new account. This time around, they are making the map even bigger, but they are also adding a paywall, something that fans didn’t predict.
From the start, skate was promised as a completely free-to-play experience without anything locked behind a paywall, but they are now changing that. The Isle of Grom will be locked behind a paywall, and you must have a skate. Pass or pay in-game chips to play.
Those who don’t have the premium pass can only play the island during its General Access period (April 14 – May 5), whereas skate premium pass owners not only get a month of early access to the island on March 10th, but they can keep playing it after May 5.
Just early access would have made sense, as paying money only allowed you to play it earlier, but locking it so that other players can’t play after a certain date is not fair to those who just want to play the game without throwing money at it.
Fans Are Not Happy
That announcement has drawn a mixed response from the community, with some players frustrated that a major map area is now connected to the game’s premium track instead of being unlocked through progress or available to everyone at launch
The dev update frames the decision as part of the team’s content roadmap for skate.’s seasonal model, but for players who have already invested time rolling through the base world, it understandably feels like a shift in value proposition.
It’s fine to lock cosmetics behind a paywall because that does not affect the gameplay experience, but something as core as the tutorial island should be accessible to anyone, whether they want to spend money or not.
Community reaction has been split. Some players say they understand the business rationale, especially in a live-service landscape where ongoing support costs money.
Others push back on the idea of a significant map area being “premium,” arguing that free players already feel stretched between grinding seasonal tiers just to keep up with players who spend money. Completely locking such a core feature behind a paywall is a disservice to these players.
EA’s Reasoning
The rationale from the skate. The team centers on creating a “living, growing world” across seasons, where each “pass” builds on the last with additions. From their perspective, offering more sizeable expansions behind the Skatepass is a way to justify the price.
Whether the decision pays off in longer-term engagement remains to be seen. For players who pick up the Skatepass, Isle of Grom adds new variety, spots to explore, and seasonal events that extend the life of Season 3.
