Smite 2 Preview: A New Era For Godly Powers

has been announced, ushering in a new age for the third-person MOBA. Earlier this week, got the opportunity to speak to the developers of, Iron Forge Games and Hi-Rez Studios, to get a better idea of what people should expect from the surprise sequel., like its predecessor, will be a completely free-to-play game with opportunities to purchase cosmetics via in-game microtransactions.

The original Smite was released on March 25, 2014, and quickly amassed a huge player base and community that developed around it. Today, a huge competitive scene exists, with top teams competing at the Smite World Championship every year. Though the sequel looks to capture what people love about, it will also be a completely new, standalone title, and quite a bit of change is on the way.

will utilize Unreal Engine 5.2+, boasting all new textures, graphics, and higher-fidelity environments than was possible with the original, which ran on Unreal Engine 3. As it's been nearly a decade since was released in 2014, the new engine should be a huge improvement. That said, graphics aren't the only thing the new engine will unlock for the game, as the developers emphasized a greater ability to execute ideas, from the user interface to abilities and functions, including the new «use» button, within the game itself.

will introduce an all-new God named Hekate, a Greek goddess and sorcerer with magical powers and the ability to open interdimensional portals for greater mobility on the map. A healer, she will be the first new God added to the game.

According to the developers, will slowly introduce more Gods over time, starting with a modest 25-50 god roster. This minimal approach is, in part, by design, as the more limited pool of characters to choose