Easy Day Studios Ply Ltd

Easy Day Studios Pty Ltd is an independent video game developer and publisher based in Long Beach, California, known for Skater XL, the first skateboarding game to release across all major platforms in over a decade. Founded by lifelong skaters Jeff, Dain Hedgpeth, and Jon West, the studio built Skater XL from a shared frustration with the absence of a serious skateboarding game in the modern era and released it to a dedicated community that has kept it active through an expansive modding scene.

Skater XL

Skater XL entered early access on PC through Steam on December 19, 2018, and launched in full on July 28, 2020, for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with a Nintendo Switch version following on December 5, 2023. Easy Day Studios developed and published the game independently, handling both development and distribution across all platforms.

The game’s defining feature is its Independent Foot Control system, which maps each analog stick directly to the corresponding foot of the skater. Rather than triggering pre-programmed tricks, the IFC system lets players manipulate the board through stick movement alone, producing tricks that feel physically consistent rather than scripted. The approach draws comparisons to the Skate series’ analog-based input model while going further in removing the preset trick library entirely. Every trick is a product of how the player moves the sticks, which gives the game a learning curve closer to a real skill than a button sequence.

Playable pro skaters include Tiago Lemos, Evan Smith, Tom Asta, and Brandon Westgate, with gear from over thirty real skateboarding brands available for character customization. Skate locations include Downtown Los Angeles and other California landmarks associated with street skating history. The game shipped with a Steam Workshop integration that opened the door to a modding community that has since produced thousands of additional maps, gear items, and graphic mods, extending the game’s replayability well beyond its original content.

Skater XL holds a Very Positive rating on Steam from over 18,000 reviews. Critical reception was more mixed at launch, with outlets praising the physics and the modding ecosystem while noting the relatively limited official content at release. The Nintendo Switch version in 2023 extended the game’s reach to a new platform audience three years after the original launch.

Easy Day Studios and the Skateboarding Game Landscape

Skater XL arrived at a moment when skateboarding games had been absent from major platforms for over ten years. Skate 3 was the last significant release in the genre when Easy Day Studios began development, and the combination of a decade-long gap in the market and a physics model that appealed directly to skaters themselves gave the game a specific audience that was actively waiting for something to fill that space. The studio’s founders being genuine skaters shaped every design decision, from the IFC system to the location choices to the brand partnerships, and that authenticity is the most consistent element of the community’s relationship with the game.