Smite 2 oh finally

Smite was originally released in 2014 for Windows, 2015 Xbox 360, 2016 PS4 and Nintendo Switch in 2019.  Using heavily modified and now outdated Unreal Engine 3 2004. Not just that but it uses software like Adobe Flash Player that is no longer supported and has reached its end of life. Unreal Engine 4 was released in 2014, and Smite is one last and longest-running games using that engine. Upgrading from 3 to 4 would be a challenge but upgrading two generations is impossible. Newer graduates and game developers have never experienced Unreal Engine 3. Therefore makes sense that Smite 2 would be coming sooner. During smite lifetime we have seen various failed spinoffs using smite assets.  Teams behind these games have been using Unreal Engine 4.

Sometime last year I asked one of the community managers about a PS5 client. I can’t remember the exact answer but in my mind, smite 2 was being worked on. Therefore 2 weeks ago I was not surprised to find out Smite 2 is coming in 2024. Combined with slow down in god releases and hints.

Long awaited squeal is being released in different gaming landscapes. The multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre no longer dominates the market. League of Legends Wild Rift, the console version was announced 2 years ago and no news. Apart from that MOBA space has been well empty, here are the wiki releases. Smite is the only game in town on console and few new games coming out.

The team plans to port the existing roster to a new game, including reworking and rebalancing based on new game mechanics. 50 promised on release with 5 new gods, release schedule 2 per week during the alpha, 1 bi-weekly during the beta. That means similar levels of content by 2026/2027. No details on the new designs just old assets coming to the new game. Rebuilding everything for the modern gaming landscape. The camera is changing just a bit and different styles of graphics. First impressions are positive so far, including from former pro players and community members who got to play it.

Older platforms are likely to see no new game but servers for Smite will be supported for a while. With over 1,600 skins porting everything over would be a massive cost. The solution is legacy gems rewarding you for money spent on the game.  I don’t care about skins.

Bugs with crashes have been increasing so a new game was badly required.

Looking forward to playing the new game but…..splitting the playerbase is a huge worry for me. Good news console player base lacks a MOBA and PC market would be open to a new one.