Summary
Earlier this year, Titan Forge Gamesannounced Smite 2at its World Championships, promising a true sequel to the fan-favorite free-to-play MOBA. At the time, I was particularly impressed with the level of community engagement on the part of the developers and with the earnest love for the game shown by players and spectators alike.
Just a few months later, we’re nearingSmite 2’s July release. This weekend marks the second alpha playtest, inviting players to try the new Battleground of the Gods and offer feedback. I had a chance to ask a few questions about the process with Executive Producer Alex Cantator (whom I hadpreviously interviewedat the Smite World Championships) and Design Director AJ Walker.
The first Alpha Weekend, which ran earlier this month, exceeded the team’s expectations across all metrics. “We reaffirmed that we’re building a really strong base for Smite 2, but that we’ve got a lot of work still to do,” notes Cantatore. That extra work doesn’t just include optimizations or god balancing, either; it turns out that little details mean a lot to players in a game as competitive as Smite.
“I had no idea so many of our players bind abilities to mousewheel up and down until I was flooded with feedback about those being unbindable keys in Alpha Weekend 1!” continues Cantatore. It makes sense in hindsight; longtime Smite players will have hundreds or even thousands of hours with a particular set of keybinds, and they’ll naturally want to make the transition to a new game as smoothly as possible.
Mousewheel up and down are bindable as of Alpha Weekend 2.
The big draw of the first Alpha Weekend was Hecate, the first brand-new playable goddess introduced in Smite 2. While the response to Hecate was positive overall, Titan Forge ended up completely reworking her abilities based on feedback.
“The challenge with Hecate, given her mythology, is that she is the goddess of many things
rather than just one or two,“ says Walker. “We needed to focus on what makes her stand out and is fun to play. Her rework leans into her role in mythology around crossroads. This is interpreted in the gameplay through transitions, doorways, and portals.”
In her current form, Hecate can create portals for her allies to use, and her ultimate teleports enemies around the map, potentially dismantling the entire team’s strategy in one go. While it remains to be seen how Hecate will fit into the overall meta, she’ll definitely be a goddess to watch at launch. “We can’t wait to see what new feedback [the players] give us when they get to go hands-on with her,” says Walker.
Whether out of habit or because Hecate was already taken, players tended to fall back on gods with a lot of history in the original Smite. In 600,000 matches, the top three picks were beginner-friendly Neith, control standby Anubis, and tanky Ymir. The new item and stat system allows much more customization in Smite 2, so longtime players might see some surprises coming out of these gods as players tinker with builds.
Of course, there’s plenty of internal playtesting that goes on just to get the game to its current state. Smite 2 has the benefit of access to dedicated pro players thanks to the Smite Pro League, and the official community representatives, the Olypmians, to share their insights. “Their feedback has been critical in refining gameplay elements, early balancing of gods, and ensuring the competitive integrity of the game,” explains Cantatore.
Alpha Weekend 2 includes the first pro-level tournament for Smite 2, primarily as a means of testing Spectator Mode in its alpha state so it’s ready to go for bigger esports events down the line.
The biggest thing to look forward to in this weekend’s playtest is the pair of new gods added to the roster, fiery Sol and imposing Hades. Cantatore also says it will include animation, VFX, and quality-of-life updates, plus improvements to the item shop. There’s still a long way to go before launch, but it’s great to see Titan Forge inviting players along for the ride.
