Electronic Arts (EA) is facing a firestorm of controversy as the gaming giant reportedly laid off 500 employees this week, a move that insiders are linking to the disastrous early access launch of Skate 4—or simply skate., as it’s now styled. The long-awaited revival of the beloved skateboarding franchise, which hit consoles and PC in a free-to-play format earlier this year, has been met with scathing reviews, plummeting player counts, and a tidal wave of backlash. According to leaked internal memos and furious former staffers taking to social media, the blame is being pinned squarely on a “woke” story mode that alienated the game’s core audience. The fallout has sent shockwaves through the industry, with EA’s stock taking a hit and gamers calling it one of the biggest flops of 2025.
The trouble started months ago when Skate 4 entered its closed alpha phase. Early testers praised the return of the series’ signature flick-it controls and the sprawling open world of San Vansterdam, a fictional city echoing the vibes of its predecessors. But whispers of discontent emerged as players got a taste of the game’s narrative direction. Unlike the earlier Skate titles, which leaned on a laid-back, skater-culture vibe with minimal story, this reboot introduced a fully voiced campaign centered on a diverse cast of characters tackling social issues like gentrification, inclusivity, and climate change. “It felt like a lecture, not a skate game,” one X user posted, summing up a sentiment that’s since gone viral. Clips of cringe-worthy dialogue—like a skater pontificating about “systemic oppression” mid-ollie—spread like wildfire, turning the game into a punching bag for memes.
By the time Skate 4 hit early access in March 2025, the hype had soured. Steam reviews tanked to “Mostly Negative,” with players slamming the “forced woke agenda” and a monetization model that shoved microtransactions into every corner of the experience. Daily active users, which peaked at a modest 150,000 on launch day, reportedly nosedived to under 20,000 within two weeks—a death knell for a live-service title banking on long-term engagement. Sales of premium cosmetic packs, meant to fund the free-to-play model, flopped hard, with one insider claiming they “barely covered server costs.” For a franchise dormant since 2010, the return was supposed to be triumphant. Instead, it’s being called a $100 million misfire.
The layoffs, confirmed by EA on April 8, 2025, hit the game’s developer, Full Circle, hardest, but rippled across other EA studios as well. In a terse press release, the company cited “strategic restructuring” and a need to “refocus resources on core priorities” like the upcoming Mass Effect 5. But behind closed doors, the mood is bitter. A leaked email from a sacked designer, shared anonymously on Reddit, claims the team begged management to ditch the story mode after negative alpha feedback. “We told them it was a mistake—skaters don’t want politics, they want tricks,” the email reads. “But the execs doubled down, said it’d ‘broaden the audience.’ Look where that got us.” Another ex-employee, posting on X, accused EA of “sacrificing 500 livelihoods for a woke experiment nobody asked for.”
The “woke” label isn’t new to gaming controversies, but it’s striking a raw nerve here. Fans of the original trilogy cherished its irreverent, apolitical tone—a stark contrast to what they see as heavy-handed messaging in Skate 4. Some point to the inclusion of non-binary characters and a subplot about corporate greed as the breaking point. “I just wanted to grind rails, not grind through a sermon,” one Steam reviewer quipped. Defenders argue the criticism is overblown, with a few X posts praising the game’s diversity as “refreshing.” But the numbers don’t lie: the audience it aimed to broaden never showed up, and the loyalists bailed.
EA’s response has been muted, with CEO Andrew Wilson dodging questions during a tense earnings call this week. Analysts speculate the company might pivot Skate 4 into a stripped-down, tricks-only mode to salvage it, but the damage may be irreparable. For the 500 workers now jobless, the fallout is personal. “We poured years into this, and they threw us under the bus,” one laid-off artist told a gaming podcast, voice trembling. As the industry watches EA lick its wounds, the Skate 4 debacle is shaping up as a cautionary tale: when you mess with a classic, you’d better land the trick—or brace for a brutal wipeout.
