Electronic Arts announced a third instalment in the Skate series late last night, revealing that the Tony Hawk competitor will be available May next year for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Currently being developed by EA's Black Box Studio, Skate 3 will build on the original titles with a brand new co-operative game mode that allows players to complete challenges and new tricks by working together.

It's also interesting to note that, while Activision's next Tony Hawk game will be based around yet another custom peripheral, Skate 3 will be keeping things a lot more basic and will focus on expanding the community and social aspects of the game. From what the developers are saying it seems that they want to keep the game as open as possible too, so that multiple players can enjoy playing the game at once without having to shell out for extra hardware.

"The social and community aspects of the Skate franchise are something we've always embraced, but we've never done anything to the scale you're going to see in Skate 3," said an EA spokesperson in the official release. "We're giving gamers a very unique experience by providing them with the tools they need to build their ultimate team or to create a team comprised entirely of their online friends. From there, it's all about proving yourself – teaming up, and throwing down."

There'll also be a new training mode to help new players get accustomed to the inventive control system, as well as an expanded Hall of Meat multiplayer mode. The Create feature is being re-tooled too, letting players create their own videos and skateparks.

Planning on picking up Skate 3, or are you a Tony Hawk fan only? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.