Skate 3 takes place in the town of Port Carverton. After a failed trick, "The Legend" (the player) starts his goal to become a skating mogul. The player works to create a team of skaters that compete against other teams, with a goal to sell a million skateboards.
Players can customize their team's name and logo at the start of the game. They can also change their appearance, clothing, and board. Later in the game, purchases unlock more clothing and board options.
The player uses the right stick on the controller to perform ollies and tricks. Ollies are the basic way to jump, achieved by pulling back on the stick and flicking it forward to lift off the ground. By controlling the direction of the flick, the player can flip the board. A combination of buttons while in mid-air modifies the trick even further.
There are various challenges to complete, including:
"Hall of Meat", where the player must bail from their board to break as many points as possible by breaking bones, distance, air time, etc.
"Own the Spot/Lot", both similar in which the player completes a trick or series of tricks to a predetermined amount of points to own the spot/lot. The difference being that Spot is solo and Lot uses the player's team.
"Photo"/"Film", where the player must complete either a predetermined or chosen trick(s) on objects. After completing Photo, the player can choose which photo to use for the front cover of the magazine. Film, on the other hand, does not have this choice.
skate.Create: This tool allows players to create custom content for both private or public use.
skate.School: This allows new and old players to learn and hone their skateboarding skills.
skate.Park: This tool allows for the creation of custom maps.