Skate 3 takes place in the town of Port Carverton. After a failed trick, "The Legend" 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 the name of the team, and choose a preset logo upon the start of game. Once chosen, the player can change their appearance, clothing and board. Later in game purchases unlock more clothing and board options.
The gameplay involves using the right stick on the controller to do ollies and tricks. Ollies are the basic way to jump, and by controlling the direction of the trick, the player can modify it further. Challenges include completing "Hall of Meat" where the player must break bones and score points, or "Own the Spot/Lot" where the player must complete a series of tricks to earn points.
The game also features challenges such as taking photos or filming videos, which require players to perform specific tricks on objects. New features include creating custom content with skate.Create, learning new skills in skate.School, and building custom maps in skate.Park.