One of many speaking factors popping out of the reveal of Smite 2 is developer Hello-Rez Studios’ choice to not port the unique sport’s skins, lots of which gamers have paid for, to the sequel.
Free-to-play third-person multiplayer on-line battle enviornment sport Smite launched in 2014. The sequel is constructed utilizing Unreal Engine 5, with an alpha playtest deliberate for spring 2024 some 10 years after the unique got here out.
Smite was initially designed on Unreal Engine 3 again within the early 2010s and has stayed on that platform. “Whereas it has labored effectively for us, 10 years is a very long time and our work to date in Unreal Engine 5 has proven us simply how thrilling the way forward for Smite might be,” Hello-Rez stated.
In its keynote to announce Smite 2, Hello-Rez workers defined why it’s circuitously transferring over current content material from Smite 1 to Smite 2, highlighting simply how massive a change is being made for Smite 2. Calling Smite’s transfer from Unreal Engine 3 to five a “multi-generational leap”, Hello-Rez insisted it’s not possible to port all of the content material in Smite 1 to Smite 2 as a result of time it might take.
Artwork director Ben Knapp stated: “At present, as a result of we need to be certain that all of the content material that goes into Smite 2 is strictly higher, it takes about two months of labor to get one pores and skin from Smite to Smite 2. And that is if we simply port it with results with out making different significant enhancements.”
“As of at the moment there are about 1,600 skins in Smite, excluding mastery skins,” artwork producer Sherri Harney added. “To only port each pores and skin to Smite 2 it might take about 246 person-years of labor, and we couldn’t do this and make Smite 2 as superb as we knew it could possibly be if we began recent.” This “arduous name” was made early in growth, Hello-Rez revealed. “We believed that our gamers needed a greater model of Smite greater than the rest.”
As a make-good, Hello-Rez has created a Legacy Gems system that rewards Smite 1 gamers with digital forex they will spend on Smite 2 content material. The quantity of Legacy Gems ready for gamers in Smite 2 relies on how a lot they’ve spent in Smite 1.
For individuals who’d desire to stay with the unique, Smite 2 received’t substitute Smite 1. The unique will proceed to run as a standalone sport, and can obtain common updates for the foreseeable future, Hello-Rez stated.
Smite 2 launches on PC, Xbox Collection X and S, and PlayStation 5 with full crossplay.
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You may attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
