While the late 90s and early 2000s were dominated by the massive popularity of skateboarding through the success ofTony Hawk’s Pro Skater, another similar sport flew just under the radar as snowboarding saw significant growth in the world of gaming. Franchises likeSSXand1080 Snowboardingpopularized hillside shreddingand, while they never quite saw the same widespread acclaim, snowboarding games stood their own against their skateboarding counterparts. Now, with skateboarding making a resurgence in pop culture, Foam Punch’sShreddersis looking to bring snowboarding back into the limelight.
Shredderswas first revealedin June of last year as an Xbox Game Pass exclusive and was supposed to launch service in December. However, the game was ultimately delayed from its anticipated December release to February 2022. Now, a recent leak through Microsoft’s official marketplace suggests that the release date forShreddersmay have been pushed back once again, but now with a hard-set date for the game to launch.
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The leak was first discovered through an update to Shredders' official page on the UK Microsoft Store, presenting players with an option tojoin Xbox Game Passand listing a proper release date forShredders.Shreddersis set to arrive to Xbox Game Pass on March 17, a few weeks later than their last estimate of a February 2022 release. While no official announcement has been released from Foam Punch, a formal reveal of the game’s new release date will likely soon follow.
Shreddersserves as another instance of a sport that has deep-rooted history in gaming making a resurgence in recent years.Last year’sCarve Snowboarding, a product of1080 Snowboardingcreator Giles Goddard, brings a fresh perspective to the mountain-side shredding by bringing the experience into VR. Goddard has also expressed his desire to see the classic snowboarding franchise make a return to Nintendo consoles on the Switch.
While snowboarding games may be few and far between in the modern games industry, snowboarding’s influence is nowhere near gone from many of today’s most popular games.The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildfeatures snowboarding as a game mechanic throughBreath of the Wild’s shield-surfing technique. WhileSSXhasn’t seen a new title in just under ten years and many of gaming’s other most popular snowboarding franchises have been dormant for even longer,Shredderslooks to provide gamers looking to hit the slopes with a fresh take on the classic sport.
Shredderswill release on March 17 exclusively for Xbox Series X/S through Xbox Game Pass.
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