There are currently many MOBAs on the market, though most attention seems to go towards League of Legends and DOTA 2—grandchildren of the original DOTA. However, Smite has been a silent presence for over a decade and it might just be getting a sequel.
In a Jan. 11 post from dataminers digging through the original game’s files, players said that mentions of a Smite 2 Founders Pack have begun appearing in Smite‘s code. It’s said to be set for release in March for Smite‘s 2024 Birthday Event. The dataminers are convinced this is enough confirmation that Smite 2 is coming soon, or that it’s at least very far into development. But it wasn’t until a keen-eyed player spotted that Smite 2 had been listed on the Russian Steam storefront that everyone began getting hyped for Hi-Rez’s upcoming MOBA.
With this much information coming out preemptively, Hi-Rez Studios will likely react. The upcoming Smite World Championship (SWC) will be held from Jan. 12-14, and it’s could be there that Hi-Rez will announce their upcoming game. If the dataminers are correct, the game is so far along with development that it’s ready for Hi-Rez to announce at any time. Since it’s believed to be coming in two months, there is no better time for Hi-Rez to announce their title than now. Whether or not that will happen, we’ll see during the event.
While most MOBAs are top-down, real-time strategy types of games, Smite took on a different approach for a very different audience. Played from the third-person perspective, Smite revolves around players choosing one of many different gods from all-world pantheons to clash in the usual 5v5 setting. It’s stayed relatively the same and had a consistent player base for much of its life, so we don’t expect a sequel to change too much.
Though Smite seemingly has been flowing under the radar for some time now (despite its consistency in player count), I can’t say I’m not excited to see a new MOBA come along. Slapping a “2” on your game and calling it the next best thing has become a staple for live-service titles, so here’s hoping Hi-Rez breaks the tradition set by the likes of Overwatch 2 and CS2 and actually delivers on bringing a new, upgraded, and fresh rendition of a beloved title.
