HomeMain MenuPress ReleasesHI-REZ STUDIOS KICKS OFF THE SMITE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY XBOX ONE...

HI-REZ STUDIOS KICKS OFF THE SMITE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY XBOX ONE WITH NEW REVEALS IN KEYNOTE ADDRESS

HI-REZ STUDIOS KICKS OFF THE SMITE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY XBOX ONE WITH NEW REVEALS IN KEYNOTE ADDRESS

New surprises unveiled for SMITE and Paladins, including the SMITE Japanese Pantheon

Hi-Rez Studios’ first mobile game, Jetpack Fighter, is available today on iOS

ATLANTA – Jan. 7, 2016 – Hi-Rez Studios has opened the 2016 SMITE World Championship presented by Xbox One (SWC), revealing new details about SMITE and its latest titles, Paladins and Jetpack Fighter. COO and co-founder Todd Harris will go in-depth with these announcements during today’s keynote address at 11 a.m. EST, viewable at www.twitch.tv/smitegame.

Season 3 of SMITE will focus heavily on improving the game’s overall user experience, including changes to the in-game shop, the introduction of Daily Quests and a host of user interface updates. But most notably, Season 3 will introduce the long-awaited Japanese Pantheon. Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun, will be the first of these new playable characters based on Japanese mythology to join the Battleground of the Gods, starting Jan. 12 on PC (and late February on Xbox One). Amaterasu’s release also begins the new multi-week event, Rising Dawn, which will include many Japanese-themed skins, such as Kaiju Sobek and Harajuku Neith. Learn more about Amaterasu in this special making-of video from the developers, located here.

SMITE will also feature a 3v3 Joust League, a highly requested feature from the community, as well as an all-new 3v3 Joust map, a Chinese-themed environment based on the sky palace from the famous Sun Wukong legend. Hi-Rez dives into the new map in a new in-game cinematic video, found here.

In addition, Hi-Rez has officially launched its first mobile game, Jetpack Fighter, a swipe-to-attack, high-speed platformer with gear progression. One of Jetpack Fighter’s heroines, Leona, will also appear in SMITE as an alternate skin for the goddess Nemesis, and Nemesis will be a playable character in Jetpack Fighter. The game is available today in all English-speaking territories as a free-to-download title on select iOS devices via the App Store; additional markets will follow in the coming months. Jetpack Fighter’s gameplay trailer can be found here.

Hi-Rez also revealed that Grover, the treant of SMITE’s Sylvanus, will be the next playable Champion to join Paladins, its team-based, first-person shooter, currently in closed beta on PC. A first look at Grover in Paladins is available here. Hi-Rez announced the first official Paladins tournament, expected this spring with a prize pool of $100,000. More information about the game’s development will arrive throughout the year.

The SMITE World Championship is currently underway and will conclude on Sunday, Jan. 10. The winning team from the PC World Championship will take home the majority share of a $1 million prize pool, while competitors in the Xbox One Invitational will battle over a $150,000 prize pool. Watch the SWC at www.twitch.tv/smitegame, and follow the action on the official SWC website, Facebook or Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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.