Smite 2 reveals revamped sequel for mythological MOBA that won’t replace the original
Standalone rebuild brings Unreal Engine 5 visuals, new abilities and gameplay overhauls, along with rewards for existing players
God-battling free-to-play MOBA Smite is getting a full sequel, with an alpha test due to kick off this spring. The revamped rebuild will overhaul the decade-old game with fresh visuals and gameplay changes, but developers Titan Forge promise it won’t replace the original game.
Smite 2 is billed as a standalone sequel to Smite, which pits two teams of five players against each other in a fight to destroy their opponents’ base. Like fellow MOBAs such as Dota 2 and League of Legends, the action is split across three lanes and sees the players’ character gradually gain ever-more powerful abilities, but Smite swaps from the genre’s traditional top-down camera to a third-person perspective.
2014 marks a decade since the original Smite released. It’s apparently gone on to amass over 40 million players and - like any successful modern game - been replete with crossovers, adding beloved cartoon characters from nostalgic ‘90s Nickelodeon shows, the cast of Stranger Things and Avatar: The Last Airbender to its pantheon of deities. It’s also spun out into a turn-based tactics game and card game.
Smite 2 seems to be more of a deep revamp of Smite than a completely new game. Even so, Titan Forge (having split out of original devs Hi-Rez) say that it has been built from scratch to use Unreal Engine 5, overhauling the game’s visuals - including animations, spell effects and its user interface - and audio while also introducing new physics-based powers for gods such as the ice-summoning Ymir.
Behind the scenes, the new game will add new tiers and structures to its ranked online play, look to improve cross-platform play between PC and consoles, and generally aim to offer a smoother matchmaking experience.
There’ll be new characters introduced to join the existing line-up of playable gods, which will see a number of characters sit out from the existing 100-plus-strong roster to make for a less overwhelming introduction for newcomers. The final roster will not necessarily include all of the characters from the original game, either.
Those gods will see some of their abilities tweaked, with the sequel introducing a new system involving management of two power sources, Strength and Intelligence, that will apparently allow for greater gameplay variety and play style options during matches. Away from the gods themselves, the relic and item systems have been overhauled, with a new item store to make building items more straightforward and beginner-friendly. There’s also a new vision control slot and dynamic map objectives during matches.
Titan Forge confirmed that Smite 2 won’t replace the first Smite - we’re not looking at an Overwatch situation here - with servers staying online and ongoing support planned for both games for the foreseeable future.
Those players that do make the jump into the new game will be rewarded with an in-game currency of legacy gems in Smite 2 based on gems they spent in its predecessor, which can be put toward in-game skins and other items. While existing skins won’t necessarily be brought over, future skins will be released as cross-generation unlocks for both Smite and Smite 2.
The separate Divine Legacy system will unlock skins, badges, Gold Mastery levels and more based on players’ past playtime and achievements in Smite 1, with up to 11 unique skins on offer to those who’ve been playing since the start.
If you’re interested in giving it a go, sign-ups for Smite 2’s alpha test are currently open ahead of a planned launch in spring. The game is due to release on both Steam and the Epic Games Store at some point in the future.