Smite 2 officially unveiled, alpha test set to begin in spring

techradar.com:

Titan Forge Games has officially unveiled Smite 2 — the highly anticipated sequel to the free-to-play third-person multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), Smite. This follow-up is set to enter alpha testing this spring. 

Smite 2 has been a long time coming — its predecessor first became available to play in closed beta back in 2012, before releasing in full in 2014. In the original, players are able to step into the shoes of more, than 100 gods and mythological beings with a plethora of abilities and take on others across a variety of modes. 

Announced during the Smite World Championships today (January 12), Smite 2 has been built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5.2. The first game was made in Unreal Engine 3, and when footage of the two is compared, it’s clear that enormous graphical upgrades have been made.

Beyond its improved visuals, players can look forward to new animations and abilities for existing gods, as well as totally new gods to play as, including the much-requested Hecate, who’ll be the first newbie on the roster. There’ll be greater strategic depth, too, as gods will be able to utilize any and all items and use both intelligence and strength as different sources of power. There’ll be a new, dedicated button to interact with the environment and pick up buffs, and a new custom matchmaking system will be deployed, too, while a whole new system for Ranked is incoming.

During the reveal, Titan Forge also went into detail on its ‘Legacy Gems’ and ‘Divine Legacy’ systems. Smite players will not be able to directly transfer their content (such as skins) over to Smite 2. Instead, they’ll automatically receive ‘Legacy Gems’ equivalent to however many gems they’ve spent (paid or earned for free) in the original