An Explanation of the Smite 2 Situation.

[FableNights]

The Beginning of the End.

On January 12, 2024, Hi-Rez announced that they were creating Smite 2.
Now, with such a big announcement came a lot of questions. They answered questions they believed would be frequent.
There were some people who were happy, some who were cautiously curious, and there was some outrage.

Primary Issues.

The main issue that was brought up was the lack of transferring skins from Smite 1; a total of 1600 skins, not including mastery skins, would seemingly not be moved over.

It was clarified by Hi-Rez that UE3 (Smite 1's engine) and UE5 (Smite 2's engine) are leagues apart in what they can do. So much so that skins cannot be ported. Any skin that that would have to transferred from Smite 1 to Smite 2 would take; by Hi-Rez's own words, about 2 months per skin. Overall, 247 man years to port every skin from Smite 1 to Smite 2.
For Tier 5 skins; the most requested skins to be transferred, Hi-rez said that each T5 has its own unique stuff behind it, making it take months just for a single skin to be built up with Smite 2's standards.
Personally, I think the number is a bit high, but considering their model artists are more likely focused on just getting all the gods their own Smite 2 Models, it makes sense that cosmetics wouldn't be a primary focus, imo.

Now, the other issue was Legacy Gems. Hi-Rez stated in their FAQ, that any gem you spent in Smite 1; Free or Bought, would transfer over as Legacy Gems. These gems pay for 50% of almost anything in Smite 2, with the only exception; for now, being crossover skins. Hi-Rez has stated they would like to have Legacy Gems apply to Crossover, but that's not up to them as Legacy Gems would cut into their partner's profits.
This ultimately means you would still have to pay for some gems before being able to use the Legacy Gems which have left people upset that they can't use 100% of their Legacy Gems for Smite 2 items.

And this is all followed up by Divine Legacy which is little badges and what not that let you show off that you have X amount of stars on a god or a certain T5 skin in Smite 1.
I'm not gonna sugar coat it; this didn't help people from being upset.

Clarification.

Hi-Rez hosted a Dev Insight Panel; the vid now on their YouTube channel, where they went over concerns, questions, their thoughts, and what they want to accomplish with Smite 2.

A few things that were said or eventually clarified.

Smite 1 skins. If they were transferred; which atm, Hi-Rez is looking at around 300 skins they want to do that with, could be paid for with 100% Legacy Gems. Now this wasn't them saying every skin would be transferred over, but that they want to do some.
More then likely, that's about 2-3 skins per god. You're probably gonna see the more popular skins from each god with the exception of much less popular gods like Fafnir only getting 1.

What's changing? They wanted the game to hold the same magic Smite has, but wanted changes that they believe would benefit Smite 2 as a game.

Any god can now build any item.
Physical is now Strength. Magical is now Intelligence. Ymir critting was an example shown.
Items are now simplified. T1 items now focus on single stats. If you want to build attack speed, you build a bow. This bow can build into ANY item that gives attack speed.

Relics don't exist. They have been changed into Active items that usually give less stats, but a strong, active effect like Blinking Amulet.

Every God now has access to Beads and a type of Ward by default.

And, going back to skins for a quick moment. Cacodemon Ymir was shown off.
The difference between Smite 1 and Smite 2 was so significant, that I cannot encourage you enough to go check it out as to show what Hi-Rez intends to do.

Why the Change?

Hi-Rez gave a few reasons why they wanted to make Smite 2.

UE3 is old. It was made in 2006. Smite was first announced in 2011. It's now 2024.
This engine is 18 years old and it's not helping with the new ambitions Hi-Rez has with future gods.
This engine is essentially putting a stranglehold on any new god idea they want to make.
With Smite being such an old game, there have been years of coding put into it and it's a mess. The dreaded spaghetti code, it complicates any bug fix that should be relatively simple. UE5, not only lets them build the game from scratch (they have to, they can't port anything) but it allows them to use the tools in UE5 to keep the code neat and tidy.

Hecate is such an example of a god that simply can't work in UE3, but does in UE5.

Matchmaking. Their current matchmaking system; from both Casuals and Ranked, is a mess and this is another opportunity for them to improve on it greatly so that the fun factor and the skill level of each match can balance each other out for more dynamic games.

For Ranked Players, this even means having different rankings for different roles. Diamond Jungle. Master Support. Gold Mid. Etc...

For Casual Players, it's to give them a more consistent experience and to properly balance their games.

In both examples, players start at 1500 MMR (which is about Gold V) and they go up or down based on how they do. In theory it's a sound idea, but in practice, it ends up ruining games for people with less skill. So, therefore, everyone starts at the bottom now, to give everyone a better experience.

My Personal Opinions.

I have about 2,250 hours in Smite. I've spent well over $500 on skins and such over the 11 years; going onto 12, that I've played this game. While I haven't been a constant player; may have skipped a season here and there, I have always come back.

While Hi-Rez has said Smite 1 isn't being shut down and is going to live alongside Smite 2, I'm not dumb. I know this essentially means focus is moving towards Smite 2 with Smite 1 being manned by a skeleton crew. Smite 1 will eventually be shut down once Smite 2 is running at full capacity.

I have a decent sized collection of 500 skins. I already have one to two skins I use on each god except Awilix; I own every skin of hers except 1.

That being said, I genuinely do not believe Hi-Rez isn't doing this out of greed, but more so longevity. It's not a secret that Smite is more then showing it's age and that all the years of coding being overlapped on each other isn't helping the game's stability in the slightest.

I played A LOT this week and I think every day I played, I had 2 to 4 games in which someone dc'd. I'VE dc'd a couple times in the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ loading screen and at this point I just want to play a stable game.

Hi-Rez isn't a big studio. If they just wanted more money, they'd pump out more T5 events, Recolored Limited Skins, and Neith/Aphro skins until the heat death of their servers.

I've already had to deal with several live service games that have died, are dying, or just shut down throughout my years of gaming. All the money I spent? Gone. Doesn't matter how great the game was. How unique it turned out to be. It was money lost to the wind.
Nothing to show.

The fact that Hi-Rez is giving us Legacy Gems; while I wish it could be more, is honestly better then nothing. On paper, being given a 50% discount on any Smite 2 stuff while Smite 1 stuff is fully purchasable with Legacy Gems is just a breath of fresh air compared to, well, literally nothing.
Imo, as long as they don't pull an Overwatch 2 and start regularly selling $20 skins; and using Legacy Gems to cover is as a 'discount', I think I can remain cautiously optimistic about the system as a whole.

I do think the reason why Hi-Rez is pushing Smite 2 so hard is because of two main reasons.

The biggest one is that it can try to build up a new audience again. If you ever tried to introduce a friend into current day Smite, you probably already know how well THAT goes, but if not... It's a pain.

The next is genuine excitement. Did you know that Hi-Rez didn't intend on originally making Smite 2? It was something a very small group of devs worked on as a 'test'. Apparently, this janky, scrapped together version of Smite 2 was such a sale that the entire company is pushing for it.

I'm not a coder. I can't say what can simply be done in Smite 1 and Smite 2. At the end of the day, Smite is Hi-Rez's baby. It's the only game they actively put effort into making it as engaging as it can be. If they see an opportunity here to turn the game into something better, well I'm going to want to see.

To me, it's not a scam. It's not an 11 year long pyramid scheme. It's not a ploy to rip me off of my oh so precious money (what money, I'm broke af). It feels like a genuine attempt to make Smite the best it can be and Hi-Rez are actively doing stuff to give back to the community without going broke.

[HighLanderPony]

aka video transcript

[Liaomasis]

Now, the other issue was Legacy Gems. Hi-Rez stated in their FAQ, that any gem you spent in Smite 1; Free or Bought, would transfer over as Legacy Gems. These gems pay for 50% of almost anything in Smite 2, with the only exception; for now, being crossover skins. Hi-Rez has stated they would like to have Legacy Gems apply to Crossover, but that's not up to them as Legacy Gems would cut into their partner's profits.
This ultimately means you would still have to pay for some gems before being able to use the Legacy Gems which have left people upset that they can't use 100% of their Legacy Gems for Smite 2 items.


just to correct: up to 50% of the skin price. This mean that most likely some skins will be at a 10 30% discount.

[ParagonAesir]

Hi-Rez would honestly make more money if they gave me half my gems spent in legacy gems to spend on skins for 100% of the price. Not only would I be invested in the game, when a new skin comes out and "Oh no, I'm running out of Legacy gems!" I wouldn't feel so bad about spending a few extra crowns their way, because even though I didn't get all my gems back as Legacy gems, I still got some that I could spend for the skins and for the gods I love.

Also you suffering DC problems isn't indicative of Smite's servers being ♥♥♥♥, they always have been. But thats besides the point, a new game wont fix the server issues.

[FableNights]

Originally posted by HighLanderPony:

aka video transcript

No. This is my explanation of events that are going on at this very moment because I'm seeing people (either through ignorance, laziness, or maliciousness) are spreading misinformation about Hi-Rez. And while I've ♥♥♥♥ on Hi-Rez for dumb decisions in the past, straight up lying isn't cool.

[FableNights]

Originally posted by Knightspace:

Yea, nah. They aren't doing ♥♥♥♥ for the community. Coupons cost nothing and mean little.

I'll give you this. Coupons aren't flashy. They're not cool and you can't really show them off.
But to say they 'cost nothing' is a flat out lie. I use coupons regularly irl and saving money means a lot to me cause I don't have a lot to spend.

A coupon is essentially a company's way of securing your business while at a cost of profit. A coupon does mean basically nothing if you never intend to use it.

So if you aren't playing Smite 2, then yeah; they mean little. Me; someone whose playing Smite 2, this coupon essentially means that I have 50% off on everything I would want.

This coupon doesn't come with an expiration date. It doesn't come with a clause (buy one skin, get another 50% off), it's a flat 50% off of everything BUT crossover content.

Hell, even that's not true. Any skins remade from Smite 1 for Smite 2 will be 100% purchasable with Legacy Gems. That's more then a coupon at that point.

[FableNights]

Originally posted by Liaomasis:

just to correct: up to 50% of the skin price. This mean that most likely some skins will be at a 10 30% discount.

Nope. Directly on their FAQ, it states:

For every Gem that you’ve ever spent in SMITE 1 – free or purchased – you’ll receive a Legacy Gem in SMITE 2. Legacy Gems can be used to pay for 50% of the price of most in-game purchases in SMITE 2 – so things like skins, Battle Passes, and events in SMITE 2 will be half-off until you spend all of your Legacy Gems.

It's not 'up to 50%' it IS 50%.

[FableNights]

Originally posted by ParagonAesir:

Hi-Rez would honestly make more money if they gave me half my gems spent in legacy gems to spend on skins for 100% of the price. Not only would I be invested in the game, when a new skin comes out and "Oh no, I'm running out of Legacy gems!" I wouldn't feel so bad about spending a few extra crowns their way, because even though I didn't get all my gems back as Legacy gems, I still got some that I could spend for the skins and for the gods I love.

Also you suffering DC problems isn't indicative of Smite's servers being ♥♥♥♥, they always have been. But thats besides the point, a new game wont fix the server issues.

I can't say if they would or wouldn't make more money if they just gave me half my gems back that I've spent.

What I can imagine though is that after a huge push with Smite 2, they'll be needing much more money to do what they want. They're willing to lose 50% of their profits, if it means they get us back as customers/players.

As for the DC problem with their ♥♥♥♥♥♥ servers: It'll have more of an impact then you think it will.

Speaking as someone who experienced the game when it was in the open beta: DC's weren't common. Any DC back in the day could be chalked up to bad internet, but over the years, it's been steadily shifted toward's the server's fault.

The server works on code that Hi-Rez has made for it. This code then interacts with Smite's code to send information. Health Values, Respawn Timers, Position of Gods in a real time environment, etc...

The code of Smite 1 has more of an impact on the servers then you believe.

[FableNights]

Originally posted by iategodzilla:

itll take 2 months per skin but we can do 300 that literally means they say theyll do 50 yrs worth of work something isnt adding up here lmao

Yeah, the numbers are a bit wonky at first glance.
Their initial response said that if they did all 1600 skins, it would be 246 person-years of work.

I assume; as I don't know the specifics, that between them making new models for old gods, models for new NEW gods (like Hecate), and everything in-between would require that much time in addition to everything.

And it's not like these are just simple ports either, Cacodemon Ymir got a massive glowup and if every Smite 1 skin gets that same treatment, I can understand the reasoning behind such long wait times.

[Chimeric]

Wow OP. That has to be the world record for longest way to say "I lick corporate boot & more."

[FableNights]

Originally posted by Chimeric:

Wow OP. That has to be the world record for longest way to say "I lick corporate boot & more."

Tell me you didn't read the post without telling me you didn't read the post.

Most of the post are facts that are going on about the current situation being explained.

At the bottom, and a couple post in italics, are the stuff that are my opinion and if 'Cautiously Optimistic' is bootlicking to you, then you need to get your mental checked.

[Chimeric]

You're "Cautiously Optimistic"? Thats a hell of a rebrand on shill. Understand that you present yourself to be overjoyed with Hi Rez doing the least possible.

No rational functional adult thinks and acts based on the premise that everything is great because its not bare minimum. So you come off as disingenuous. Blatantly so.

[FableNights]

Originally posted by Chimeric:

You're "Cautiously Optimistic"? Thats a hell of a rebrand on shill. Understand that you present yourself to be overjoyed with Hi Rez doing the least possible.

No rational functional adult thinks and acts based on the premise that everything is great because its not bare minimum. So you come off as disingenuous. Blatantly so.

Overjoyed? Man, If I was overjoyed, I'd at least say that I was excited for Smite 2. I don't even recall saying anything about any of this being 'great'.

My most prominent statement was that I don't believe Hi-Rez is doing this out of pure greed, which is what everyone around on the Steam Forums is saying.

As it turns out, a rational thinking adult can try to see things from others perspective.

Am I giving them the benefit of the doubt? In some areas, yeah, but I don't think that means I'm 'overjoyed' with what they're doing.

Also, really? Rebrand? I stated I was 'Cautiously Optimistic' in my original statement.

Being an 'Optimist' doesn't mean I'm Overjoyed, a Shill, or even a Bootlicker.

It just means I see the glass half full.

[Giffsen]

You could tldr this post by saying "Yum yum, that boot tastes so good omg"

[Gilver Redgrave]

The real question on everyones mind tho is what happens with purchases that DONT have a Gem value ? God pack does not transfer yet people paid money for it. How many GEMs worth in Smite2 ? Skin Pack direct purchases ? Whats that worth in GEMs ?

I bought the Change Pack and i am really interested in hearing what i get out of that. Technically the Skin alone is minimum 1200 Gems worth. Not including the extra Gems and the Avatar that was in the pack.

[ObsidianButterfly]

Originally posted by FableNights:

Any god can now build any item.
Physical is now Strength. Magical is now Intelligence. Ymir critting was an example shown.
Items are now simplified. T1 items now focus on single stats. If you want to build attack speed, you build a bow. This bow can build into ANY item that gives attack speed.

As much as I could rip apart your bootlicking fanboying, I'm only going to focus on this one part because anyone that uses this as an argument has very clearly never played another MOBA. Just because they rename things doesn't mean anything is changing.

Even if you CAN build any item, that doesn't mean you should. Using LoL as an example, I could build a bunch of AP (Intelligence) items on an AD (Strength) character, but why would I do that since it doesn't scale with Intelligence? Why build a bunch of attack speed on a long-range nuker? This isn't going to change how any character is built. Like, do you REALLY think they are going to turn Bellona into an Intelligence using character? Turning everyone into a hybrid amalgamation that can actually benefit from everything would be a balance nightmare that Hi-Rez is very clearly not capable of handling. Just like now, each character will utilize a handful of specific stats and just build those. Fundamentally, it is exactly the same as now, but with different names.

This is such a stupid argument it's baffling anyone continues to make it sound like more than it is.