Electronic Arts will be releasing the third title in the Skate franchise when Skate 3 arrives on dealer shelves on May 11th in North America and May 14th for those outside North America. This year will be a very pivotal year for the Skate franchise, as this year EA has the chance to establish the title and dominate the skateboarding video game space.

Domination of this space will be important, with the announcement of a Shaun White Skateboarding title from Ubisoft and, of course, another chapter in the Tony Hawk franchise. The most recent Tony Hawk title called Ride didn’t do very well at all, as the company went all out with a new skateboard controller that didn’t seem to catch on with consumers; worst of all, it was met with poor reviews and sales.

Skate 3 is said to be the most social skateboarding video game experience yet, using a combination of connectivity, accessibility and social interaction to deliver a new skateboarding video game experience that will take place in a new city. The game will feature a large number of cameo appearances by skateboarding superstars, as well as a variety of new and unique places to skate. If EA wants to assure dominance in this space Skate 3 had better be the best game yet in the series.