SMITE 2 announced as UE5 version of the mythological MOBA

Developer Titan Forge Games and publisher Hi-Rez Studios revealed today that the popular mythological MOBA SMITE will be getting a sequel. SMITE 2 upgrades the third-person MOBA to Unreal Engine 5 while also introducing new content and keeping some features from the original game. Moving forward both versions of SMITEwill continue to function as separate standalone games.

Two Standalone Games

Follow-up tweets confirmed that while Gods from the original will also be in the sequel, some may have some changes. While some Gods will stay true to their existing original SMITE versions, others will receive new animations, FX, and even reimagined abilities. The Goddess Hecate will be the first SMITE 2 exclusive God, featuring ranged magical abilities that allow her to reach through dimensions and even travel in liminal space.

The itemization system and Relics are also getting an overhaul. Relics themselves will be no more, but your entire 6-slot item inventory can now get an activated effect which is triggered by a simple button press.

New Stealth Zones allow players to ambush their enemies from the shadows, while the map itself will get some reworks as well. New game-changing buffs can be acquired by defeating minions such as the Gold Fury with an evolving Jungle.

While the upgrade to UE5 in SMITE 2 certainly looks nice, players have some justified concerns over what happens to the existing content they’ve purchased from the original SMITE over the years. According to the SMITE 2 Steam Page, a system called Divine Legacy will grant access to cross-gen skins, badges, and legacy gems for players who link their SMITE account to their SMITE 2 account. However, there’s no information as of yet exactly what will be transferred, or if there are any sort of limitations to it.

According to IGN, not all content is carried over. In-game Skins released before Year 11 of SMITE won’t be carried over as the team feels it isn’t feasible to recreate the vast amount of content SMITE built over the last decade.

An Alpha playtest for SMITE 2 is planned for Spring 2024.