Smite developer announces standalone Smite 2
Content won't transfer, but fans get in-game currency to put towards new purchases.
Smite studio Titan Forge Games has announced a standalone sequel to its long-running mythology MOBA.
Smite 2 is set to launch for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and will begin "early alpha" testing in the spring.
The original Smite will remain online for the forseeable future, meanwhile.
In a presentation on Smite 2 attended by Eurogamer, Titan Forge Games said the time was right to launch a new version of its MOBA that took advantage of Unreal Engine 5 and refreshed some of the game's mechanics. Smite 2 adds new characters, and dual power sources for each god to diversify their abillities.
Smite 2, at least for a while, will also feature a smaller cast of mythological figures to play as - simplifying the learning curve for new players.
Titan Forge Games said it planned to be at a "no-wipe beta" for Smite 2 by mid-to-late 2024, and by that point feature 25 gods, with more added every week. (The original Smite currently features more than 100.) These characters will include returning favourites and a handful of all-new gods, such as Hecate.
There's no absolute guarantee all Smite 1 characters will be made playable in Smite 2. Player-purchased content won't directly transfer over either.
On porting paid-for content over to Smite 2, Titan Forge said it could not completely rework or recreate everything due to the amount of time involved, and the amount of content that would need to be ported.
However, in a bid to respect the "time, money and accomplishments" of existing Smite fans, a Legacy Gems currency will award players with the same amount spent in Smite 1 to spend in Smite 2. The only catch is that these can just be used to pay for up to 50 percent of new purchases only.
Another reward system, dubbed as Divine Legacy, will offer rewards for the number of years existing fans have played Smite, with achievement badges and up to 11 skins free - one for each year of Smite to date.
Future skins will come to Smite 1 and 2 that are cross-gen, and Titan Forge hopes - but can't yet 100 percent confirm - that Smite 2 will offer cross-progression across all platforms, pending platform holder approval.