One controversial decision that has drawn criticism is that the game is always online with no offline mode. Full Circle stated that this was necessary to deliver on their vision of a skateboarding world, but some players and outlets like PC Gamer and Rock Paper Shotgun have compared it to The Crew, which had its servers shut down in 2024, rendering the game unplayable. It's a valid concern, but for now, the game is alive and thriving with a massive community.

I would say there's a bit of a difference between this and the controversy surrounding The Crew. The Crew was a game players paid for, that's what drew the critcism when Ubisoft announced it was shutting the servers down. Since this is an F2P I'd say it's a little bit more forgiving.

IIRC though the Stop Killing Games Movement had something in it about F2P games that offer season passes. Maybe that's the comparision those "journo" sites are thinking of.

I never played Skate myself but my cousin loved the hell out of that game!