Still Smite, just rebuilt for next-gen.

Smite 2 was officially announced today at the 2024 Smite World Championship. The still popular third-person multiplayer battle arena (MOBA) will get a new, standalone sequel that isn't quite a "full-fledged" sequel in the traditional sense.

See, developer Titan Forge Games isn't making a sequel so much as they plan to retain the same core Smite gameplay but just rebuild the rest of the game up from the ground up for next-gen. So, it'll be Smite but it will probably look a lot better. After all, the game is rapidly approaching its 10th anniversary and it is entirely possible that doing a full rebuild on an updated engine makes more sense than trying to apply another layer of paint to the existing title.

To that end, Smite 2 will be built using Unreal Engine 5. The original title runs on Unreal Engine 3. General manager at Titan Forge Games, Travis Brown, says that Smite 2 will let the team "take all the learnings from 10 years of making Smite into one of the most successful multiplayer games of all time, and do it all strictly better."

Smite 2 will feature a bunch of visual upgrades, effects, and new animations, which is to be expected with a big engine upgrade. Shite 2 will also add in several different gameplay improvements. For instance, some characters will get new abilities. There will also be a new server backend and matchmaking system, new map features, and a new user interface.

New playable gods are also planned for Smite 2. The first new character is Hecate, the goddess of sorcery. Hecate will be available to play test as part of a Smite 2 alpha test that is currently planned for spring 2024. You can register for access to the alpha right now if you're so inclined.

Smite 2 will have cross-play between PC (includes Steam Deck), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. Cross-progression is desired by the studio but apparently they are "still awaiting final partner approval" for this feature.

Titan Forge Games says that most of your Smite content will not transfer over to Smite 2. This is due to leapfrogging two engine versions and having to completely remake every piece of content. As there are over 1,600 skins in Smite, the studio says it would take "about 246 person-years of work." They say that they just can't feasibly make Smite 2 while also redoing every single skin at the same time. New kins that are added in Year 11 of the first game will transfer to Smite 2, in addition to select skins from prior years. To try to make up for this, there will be a couple of legacy reward systems implemented.

As for the first Smite, that game will continue to be supported with "regular updates." The servers will remain up for the foreseeable future.