Smite 2 devs admit that they’re ‘concerned’ about players’ reactions to the lack of transferable content from the original
But they’re hopeful players will like the loyalty reward systems
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Smite 2has beenofficially announced, and despite the significant improvements that have been shown off, developer Titan Forge Games has concerns that some players may be unhappy about the lack of transferable content between the two games.
The upcoming multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) won’t be replacingSmite 1, which is sure to be a relief for loyal fans. Unfortunately, it was also confirmed in the announcement today (January 12) that players’ content won’t directly transfer from the original to the sequel. While all gem-purchasable skins added to Year 11 ofSmitewill be “cross-gen skins,” which will also unlock inSmite 2, others won’t be carried forward due to the amount of time and effort it would take.
“I think that this is internally the bit that we’re most concerned about,”Smite’s executive producer, Alex Cantatore, tells TechRadar Gaming (TRG) in an interview. “I think we feel very confident with the gameplay, the graphics.”
He explains that he’s assured that players will instantly be able to see what an upgrade the sequel is, with factors that they “didn’t realize” they were missing. “But there definitely is a layer of, like, people put a lot of time and money intoSmite 1, and it’s a lot to ask them to move on to a new game,” Cantatore adds.
Instead of content being directly transferred, two loyalty reward systems are being introduced. ‘Legacy Gems’ equivalent to however many gems (free and paid) players have spent in the original game, will be distributed toSmite 2players, which can be used for 50% off the majority of in-game purchases. The amount of Legacy Gems received will be doubled for players who buy a Founder’s Pack forSmite 2.
Additionally, the first update of Year 11 inSmite 1will introduce ‘Divine Legacy,’ which rewards players for the time they’ve spent playingSmiteover the years. Depending on how long they’ve been playing, players can unlock up to 11 skins to use inSmite 2, and their progress will earn them badges to use in the sequel, too.
Speaking more about these reward systems, Cantatore says that the team “evolved this plan at least five times,” adding more and more until their player groups remarked on how “generous” they were.
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“So, we are very hopeful that players look at this and they say, ‘Wow, you guys are really doing something great for the players, you care about the players,’ because we really do - this was really designed with the players in mind,” Cantatore continues. “But we understand that there’s probably going to be some players that are disappointed because, you know, they want everything to transfer. But it just wasn’t possible for us to make this level of an evolution of a game and also bring everything from the past along.”
Adding to the discussion further, Titan Forge Games’ general manager, Travis Brown, tells us that the two systems are designed to reward both the players who’ve spent a lot of time inSmite, as well as those who’ve spent a lot of money. “It’s more about incentives that we wanted to give to players that playSmiteto move toSmite 2, but then also anyone that has ever lapsed, and not playedSmite 1anymore, just has a pile of rewards waiting for them when they log in onSmite 2day one,” he says.
Smite 2is planned to enter alpha testing this spring and is set to release on PC,PlayStation 5,andXbox Series X|S.
Be sure to look at our roundups of thebest free gamesandbest multiplayer PC gamesfor even more excellent games to play.
Catherine is a News Writer for TechRadar Gaming. Armed with a journalism degree from The University of Sheffield, she was sucked into the games media industry after spending far too much time on her university newspaper writing about Pokémon and cool indie games, and realising that was a very cool job, actually. She previously spent 19 months working at GAMINGbible as a full-time journalist. She loves all things Nintendo, and will never stop talking about Xenoblade Chronicles.
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