Hi-Rez Studios is on a roll at the moment. The game developer has a big hit on its hands with the recently launched free-to-play revival of Tribes with Tribes: Ascend. The sci-fi shooter game has received solid reviews and this past week, Hi-Rez revealed that it has been downloaded over 1 million times since its launch.
Now the Atlanta-based game developer is getting ready to launch yet another game, and it"s very different from Tribes: Ascend. It"s Smite, a fantasy themed action-RTS game in the vein of DOTA or League of Legends. This week, Hi-Rez announced that the closed beta for Smite will begin on May 31st.
Like Tribes: Ascend, Smite will also be launched as a free-to-play game, but with the ability to pay for extra content. In this case, people who decide to pay $19.99 for the Smite Starter Pack will also be able to get into the closed beta test when it launches. The Starter Pack will add 10 heroes to choose from in addition to the five heroes that will be available to all of the free players.
While Smite will allow players to command various mythical gods in arena-style combat, the game will differ from games like DOTA and League of Legends in that it will have a third person action perspective, rather than the overhead viewpoint that is the normal standard in these games.
Image via Hi-Rez Studios