Smite is a free-to-play third-person multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game released in 2014. It was created and published by Hi-Rez Studios and is available on Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Amazon Luna. In Smite, players control a god, goddess, or other legendary character and compete in team-based battles. Players use their character's abilities and strategies to fight against other players' characters and computer-controlled enemies. In most game modes, the goal is to defeat the enemy team's titan before losing your own.

The game includes multiple player versus player (PVP) modes and features 130 playable characters. It has a strong esports scene with tournaments, such as the annual Smite World Championship, which offers a million-dollar prize. As of 2020, Smite had reached 40 million players worldwide. A sequel, Smite 2, was announced in January 2024 and began Open Beta testing in January 2025.

Gameplay

Smite offers many different ways to play, with the largest being called Conquest. Players can choose from Training (against AI), Custom, Co-Op (with friends or a clan), Normal, and Ranked play. After selecting a play style, players pick from various standard game modes. Special events sometimes add unique rules, such as unlimited gold.

At the start of each match, players choose a character based on a god or mythological figure. As of December 2023, players can select from many characters across different cultures, including Babylonian, Celtic, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Hindu, Japanese, Norse, Polynesian, Roman, Mayan, Slavic, Voodoo, and Yoruba. Characters from King Arthur’s legends (called the Arthurian pantheon) and the Cthulhu Mythos (called the pantheon of the Great Old Ones) are also available.

Each character belongs to one of five classes: Assassin, Guardian, Hunter, Mage, or Warrior. In competitive modes and those using a Draft pick method, players on the same team must choose different characters. Successful teams usually have a balanced mix of roles, like tank, healer, and damage dealers, during character selection.

Unlike most MOBA games, which use a top-down view, Smite uses a third-person perspective. Each character has a basic attack, a passive trait, and four abilities with different effects, such as area damage or crowd control. These abilities improve as players gain experience by killing enemies, taking down towers, or defeating other players. The maximum level is 20, and reaching higher levels becomes harder. Players earn gold by killing enemies and through regular income, which is used to buy items, potions, and abilities.

Each game mode is played on a specific map divided into "lanes," where waves of computer-controlled enemies attack the enemy base, and a "jungle," where monsters spawn. Killing monsters gives experience and gold. Some monsters drop "buffs," which temporarily boost a player’s stats. Three special monsters grant gold and temporary boosts to the team that kills them.

Conquest is the default mode and uses a three-lane map similar to the Defense of the Ancients map from Warcraft III. Two teams of five players start at opposite sides of the map, each with a set amount of gold to buy starting items. Three lanes connect the teams, each protected by towers and a "phoenix." The goal is to destroy the enemy base by killing the opposing team’s titan, a giant warrior. Minions, small soldiers, attack enemy players, towers, and the titan. Towers target minions first, allowing players to attack towers without taking damage.

Teams can surrender after ten minutes if four players agree. If a player disconnects, teams can pause the game for up to thirty seconds to let them return. If a team has disconnected players, they can surrender within six minutes with fewer players needed to agree.

Slash is similar to Conquest but uses a two-lane map. Each team has two towers, two phoenixes, and a titan. Three contested jungles are in the center, and the map includes a boss called Apophis. Killing certain monsters spawns powerful enemies that can destroy towers. The name "Slash" comes from combining two old modes, Siege and Clash, which were replaced in 2022.

Joust has two teams of three players on a one-lane map with a jungle on each side. Each team has one tower, one phoenix, and a titan. Players start at level 3 because the map is smaller and focuses more on combat. A boss called Bull Demon King weakens the enemy’s tower or phoenix and gives a team buff that boosts health and mana regeneration.

Assault is similar to Joust but has two teams of five players. Players cannot choose their characters and are assigned randomly. There are no jungles, and the goal is to destroy the enemy’s structures. Once a player leaves their base, they cannot buy items until they die and cannot return to regenerate health.

Arena has two teams of five players fighting in an open space without towers or titans. Each team defends a portal and tries to reduce the enemy’s points to zero. Points are lost when enemy minions die or enter the portal, and more points are lost when a player dies. Teams can summon minotaurs after killing ten enemy players, which deal damage to the enemy. Jungle camps drop buffs, and a "Rogue’s Stash" gives gold and spawns a computer-controlled monster at the start of the match.

In Arena, players earn more gold and experience faster. Each character starts at level 3 with more gold than other modes.

Eset was originally named Isis but changed to avoid confusion with the extremist group Islamic State.

The game’s matchmaking system uses a version of the TrueSkill ranking system. Before 2014, matches were made every three minutes based on who was in the queue. Later, the system changed to find the best possible matches instead of just pairing players quickly. If it takes five minutes or more to find a match, the system adjusts its search.

Release

Smite was first available on May 31, 2012, with a closed beta. It changed to an open beta on January 24, 2013. The game was officially released on March 25, 2014, and had about 3 million players at that time. By June 2014, the number of players reached 4 million. In 2015, more than 10 million players had played Smite. In June 2016, Hi-Rez Studios reported the game had 20 million players. In 2019, Smite had over 30 million players and earned $300 million in revenue. By April 2020, Hi-Rez said the game had more than 40 million players.

On August 21, 2013, Hi-Rez Studios formed a partnership with Tencent, a company that publishes video games in China. On June 5, 2014, Hi-Rez announced a partnership with Level Up! Games to bring the game to Latin America. In October 2014, servers for the Oceanic region were added. In August 2016, servers for southeast Asia were added. In October 2017, the Chinese version of the game was merged with the international version, and the transition began in late November.

In mid-2014, Hi-Rez introduced a system allowing players to join professional teams of five. Players first competed in online matches, then advanced to offline tournaments. Teams were ranked based on their performance, and top teams were invited to the Smite World Championship. Hi-Rez held the first Smite World Championship on January 9, 2015, in Atlanta. Teams from North America, South America, Europe, and China participated. The tournament had a prize pool of $2.6 million, which was the third-largest in esports history at the time. A North American team, COGnitive Prime, won the tournament and received over $1.3 million.

In July 2015, Stew Chisam, president of Hi-Rez Studios, announced that the prize pool for the Smite World Championship would be limited to $1 million. This decision aimed to distribute prize money more evenly throughout the year instead of concentrating it at one event. In January 2016, the Smite World Championship returned to Atlanta, with a total prize of $1 million awarded.

The Smite Pro League (SPL) changed to a franchise model starting with Season 8. This meant Hi-Rez Studios directly owned and operated teams, replacing the previous system where third-party organizations managed teams. The new model improved social media engagement and made processes like visa handling more efficient. It also allowed Hi-Rez to work more closely with players and plan for the future of the league.

Smite is a freemium game, meaning it is free to play but offers optional in-game purchases. Players can buy items such as skins, boosts, and other features using two in-game currencies: gems and favor. These currencies have different values and can be used to purchase different items.

In the free version of the game, playable gods (characters) rotate monthly, with only about a dozen available at any time. Players can pay to unlock additional gods, special skins, emotes, character animations, and access to Odyssey and Battle Pass quests. Many of these items are limited editions tied to special events, such as a skin given only to attendees of a 2015 convention.

During the 2013 beta phase, Hi-Rez sold lifetime passes for $29.99 to unlock all future gods. As of December 2023, there are 129 playable gods in five classes: Assassin, Warrior, Guardian, Mage, and Hunter.

Many skins in the game are based on brand partnerships with companies such as Monstercat, RWBY, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Bob Ross, Stranger Things, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Transformers, Slipknot, and Nickelodeon. As of 2019, Smite generated $300 million in revenue for Hi-Rez Studios and created over 450 jobs.

Reception

Smite received mostly positive feedback from critics. The game has an average score of 83 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 12 reviews from major video game critics.

Leah B. Jackson from IGN gave the game an 8 out of 10. She praised the variety of gods and the detailed character designs, saying that Smite offers a fresh approach to familiar game ideas. Wes Fenlon from PCGamer scored the game 86 out of 100. He noted that the game’s ranked matches are easy for new players to join but also pointed out that Smite provides some support for beginners to learn the MOBA genre. Keith Milburn from NZGamer reported that the PlayStation 4 version had some technical issues that made the game feel less smooth. However, he appreciated how Smite combines elements of player-versus-environment (PvE) gameplay with features similar to massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. Paulmichael Contreras from PlayStation Life Style described Smite’s free-to-play model as fair. He explained that players can purchase additional characters, but these characters do not give players an unfair advantage. He also noted that the game works well on multiple platforms. GamesRadar+ included Smite in a list of the best free games for PlayStation 4. They highlighted that the game has 93 playable characters, including ranged and melee fighters, and that the free-to-play system is enjoyable. Digital Trends listed Smite as one of the best free-to-play games in 2020. They mentioned that Smite has been a popular MOBA game since 2014 and stands out with its third-person view, which is different from other MOBA games like League of Legends, Heroes of the Storm, and Dota 2. CulturedVultures ranked Smite fourth in a list of the best free games on Steam. TheGamer placed Smite seventh in a list of free-to-play games for the Nintendo Switch that are worth playing.

In June 2012, some Hindu leaders were upset about the inclusion of Hindu gods in Smite. These gods, including Kali, Agni, and Vamana (the only Hindu gods in the game at the time), were controlled by players. Leaders were especially concerned about how Kali was dressed. Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, asked the game’s developers, Hi-Rez, to remove these characters, saying that players controlling gods was offensive.

Hi-Rez CEO Todd Harris responded by explaining that the game’s developers aimed to create a fun and balanced experience for players. Despite this, Rajan Zed, along with Rabbi Elizabeth Beyer and Buddhist Jikai Phil Bryan, criticized the game’s portrayal of Kali as inappropriate, calling the character’s design “pornographic.” In December 2013, the Kali character was redesigned with more clothing to address these concerns. Hi-Rez continued to add Hindu gods to the game, most recently including Shiva.

Sequel

In January 2024, a sequel called Smite 2 was announced during the Smite World Championship. The game will be created by Titan Forge Games using Unreal Engine 5. Titan Forge Games also stated they will continue working on the original Smite game while developing Smite 2. On January 14, 2025, Smite 2 became available for free after being sold as a paid version during early access. In February 2025, Titan Forge Games shared plans to stop developing the original Smite game to focus fully on Smite 2.

Gods

At the start of each game, players pick a god or another mythical character to play as. As of August 2025, players can choose from many different characters across various mythological groups, such as Babylonian, Celtic, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Hindu, Japanese, Norse, Polynesian, Roman, Maya, Slavic, Voodoo, Yoruba, and Korean. Characters from King Arthur's legends (called the Arthurian pantheon in the game), the Cthulhu Mythos (called the pantheon of the Great Old Ones), and Arabian fairy tales (called the Tales of Arabia pantheon) are also included as groups of gods in Smite.

Smite 2 will add new gods over time, along with returning ones.

Currently, the new gods include: