Thanks to additional intel from Jake Nordland at Esports Insider
Smite 2, a sequel to the third-person action MOBA game Smite, has been announced – and some of its esports plans have been revealed.
Regions will be expanded through the Smite 2 Founders Series, with two esports LANs taking place this year – one in the US and one in Europe (which may take place in London, UK). This will be the first European Smite LAN since 2017.
The official Smite X (aka Twitter) account said: “We’re so pumped to build the foundation of the Smite 2 esports scene this year with multiple in-person LAN events!
“Majors will be held in front of a live audience around the world. In year one of Smite 2 esports, there will be at least one major in the US and for the first time since 2017, competitive Smite will be played in front of a crowd at a major in Europe or the UK.”
Developers have promised a more community-focused esports scene for the PC and console MOBA.
It could be a shot in the arm that Smite needs given its low popularity over the years, when compared to the main MOBAs League of Legends and Dota 2.
The news comes as the Smite World Championship is taking place at Esports Stadium Arlington in Texas.
You can watch the full Smite 2 announcement keynote here:
‘True sequel’ Smite 2 has been built from scratch in Unreal Engine 5 – press release
Titan Forge Games, creators of Smite, have announced Smite 2, the next generation of their third-person action MOBA.
Built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5, the sequel aims to deliver a next-gen experience. Now available to wishlist on Steam and Steam Deck, Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, a press release said ‘Smite 2 distils 10 years of learnings into a new experience’.
Developers say that Smite 2 ‘takes everything players love about the original and wraps it in state of the art visuals, animations and gameplay. With a refined user interface, updated audio, clearer spell effects and fresh physics-based abilities for Gods such as Ymir, everything in the game has been improved’.
The move to a new backend technology also brings cross-play, a ranked rework that contains new tiers and structures, alongside improved matchmaking.
Newcomers and veterans will discover new God pantheons, kit refinements, gameplay changes and overhauled Relic and Item systems for deeper strategy, and more impactful combat.
As well as a vision control slot and new dynamic map objectives, Smite 2 introduces dual power sources – Strength and Intelligence – to diversify each God’s abilities and offer more nuanced and varied playstyles. The reimagined Item Store simplifies item building and will improve new-player learning curves.
To honour 40m Smite players, a Divine Legacy program has been added. It will reward players for their time and accomplishments over 10 years of Smite 1, and will honour player spending.
Every gem players have previously spent will be converted into Legacy Gems in Smite 2, that can be spent on new purchases. The Divine Legacy program will offer 11 unique skins, badges, Gold Mastery levels, and cross-generation skins that work across both games. Beginning in 2024, all new gem-purchasable skins in Smite will be cross-generation.
Titan Forge Games is committed to supporting both Smite games simultaneously, with the original game’s servers remaining active once the sequel launches. Players will be able to play both the original game and the new one.
Players can now wishlist Smite 2 on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox and Epic, and register for alpha test access at Smite2.com or Steam Playtest. More information about the new game can be found on the official Smite 2 website.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
