After a few months of very little info or leaks regarding Skate, a new report earlier this week seemingly revealed information regarding the game's loot boxes and various currencies. EA has responded to that report, reiterating a promise it made last year that Skate would not include any paid loot boxes.Not referring to the new report from Insider Gaming specifically, the tweet shared via the official Skate Twitter account (thanks, GamesRadar), points to the video in which it made that paid loot box promise which was originally posted last July. Coupled with that is an image confirming Skate will not be pay-to-win, map areas will not be locked behind a paywall, and yes, there will be no paid loot boxes.Even though the tweet clearly appears to be a response to the new loot box reports, it's worth noting Insider Gaming's information didn't specifically say playtesters had revealed Skate will include paid loot boxes. While there was plenty of talk about the loot boxes apparently present in the current build of the game, it was made clear that those loot boxes can be bought using an in-game currency called stars.
In turn, stars can be earned through completing in-game challenges. If all of that is indeed accurate then yes, at this time, there are still no paid loot boxes in Skate since the currency you need to open them is earned through gameplay. However, a currency called taps was also mentioned, and if the report from earlier this week is correct, taps can be bought using real-world money and exchanged for stars which can then be used to open loot boxes.
So no, EA doesn't appear to have broken its promise and added paid loot boxes to Skate, and hopefully it never will. As for other details officially revealed about the long-awaited fourth game in the Skate series, EA has confirmed it will be free-to-play and shown off a little footage from what is still an early build of the game. No news on when exactly Skate will launch.