The organisation is the successor of the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS) founded on 21 April 1924.

[3][4] World Skate serves as the international governing body for: World Skate was established as the Fédération Internationale de Patinage a Roulettes (FIPR) on 21 April 1924 as an organ for creating multinational European championship tournaments for roller sports.

The founding meeting was organized by Fred Renkewitz and Otto Myer and included representatives from France, Germany, Great Britain, and Switzerland.

[5] In November 2004, the FIRS became subject of political controversy, known as the Fresno Case,[6] when it revoked the provisional membership status of Catalonia.

Spanish officials were reported as having brought pressure to bear on a number of countries to vote against Catalan membership.

[7] While it was a recognized member, Catalonia's national team won the 2004 Rink Hockey Men's B World Championship.

The third edition of the event – the first to be contested under the rebranded 'World Skate Games' moniker – was originally scheduled to take place in during October and November 2021 in the host cities of Vicente López, Buenos Aires and San Juan, Argentina.

[9] It was later announced that the Games would be postponed until 2022 due to scheduling conflicts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic but were expected to be hosted in Argentina as originally planned.

Tensions between the organizations were already high, as World Skate had refused to authorize the competition as an Olympic qualifier.