HI-REZ STUDIOS CELEBRATES THE FINALE OF THE 2016 SMITE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY XBOX ONE
Epsilon eSports Claims $500,000 Grand Prize With 3-0 Win Over Enemy In The SMITE PC World Championship To Close Season 2 Of SMITE
EnVyUs Vanquishes Cognitive Gaming 3-0 In The Debut SMITE Xbox One Invitational
ATLANTA – Jan. 13, 2016 – Hi-Rez Studios has closed the books on the SMITE World Championship presented by Xbox One (SWC), thus bringing to a conclusion Season 2 of the action MOBA game. The world’s top SMITE teams from North America, Europe, China, Latin America, Brazil, and, for the first time, Oceania converged on Atlanta’s Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre for a four-day battle of wits and reflexes. Playing before a sold-out audience and millions more watching online, Europe’s Epsilon eSports defeated North America’s Enemy 3-0 in the Grand Finals of the SMITE PC World Championship to claim $500,000 and the immortal title of SMITE World Champions.
The SWC was also host to the premiere of the SMITE Xbox One Invitational, drawing the four top teams from the platform’s rising competitive scene to fight for a prize pool of $150,000. In the final series, Team EnVyUs emerged victorious over Cognitive Gaming 3-0, taking home the highest honors and $75,000.
Hi-Rez Studios capped the prize pool for the PC World Championship at $1 million in order to distribute a greater share of winnings at tournaments throughout the season; in total, more than $2 million in crowd-sourced prizes were awarded to SMITE players in the past year of competitive play. For a full breakdown of the results from the 2016 SWC, please visit http://swc.smitegame.com.
During the SWC, Hi-Rez Studios introduced the Japanese Pantheon, a new cast of upcoming gods, skins and items inspired by Japanese mythology. The first of these mighty deities, Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun, is already playable on PC and will come to Xbox One in late February. Amaterasu’s arrival begins a multi-week event called Rising Sun, which will include many Japanese-themed skins, such as Kaiju Sobek and Harajuku Neith. The company also announced a new 3v3 Joust League and 3v3 Joust map for Season 3.
Season 3 of SMITE is already gearing up on PC and Xbox One. For more information, please visit www.smitegame.com, and follow the title on Facebook and Twitter.
About SMITE
SMITE is the online Battleground of the Gods, a mythology-themed action game for PC and Xbox One. Since launching in Europe and North America in March 2014, SMITE has quickly established itself as one of the Top 3 games in the rapidly growing MOBA genre, with over 13 million players. Themed around gods of mythology and offering a third-person camera and more game modes than any other leading game in its genre, the game provides a unique, action-packed experience that puts the player in the thick of the action. SMITE is free-to-play on both PC and Xbox One.
About Hi-Rez Studios
Atlanta-based Hi-Rez Studios was established in 2005 to create exceptional online interactive entertainment, and is now one of the largest video game studios in the Southeast United States. Its games include the squad-based shooter Global Agenda, the critically acclaimed Tribes: Ascend and SMITE, the Battleground of the Gods. Hi-Rez Studios also has two new games: Paladins, a fantasy FPS with progression using collectible cards currently in closed beta testing for PC, and Jetpack Fighter, a swipe-to-attack, high-speed platformer with gear progression. www.HiRezStudios.com.
