Due to multiple pop-culture crossovers, the world of Smite was already more than meets the eye, thus it’s somewhat understandable that Optimus Prime would lead the campaign for a full battle pass featuring skins from the popular G1 Transformers show.
Smite, which was first released in 2014, has a large cast of characters who represent many pantheons of gods and mythical people from throughout the world. The game’s appeal was already boosted by the crossover of the Greek god Zeus and Norse mythology’s Thor, and creator Titan Forge has added pop culture appearances in subsequent years to keep the game new.
Some of the new characters in this Gods vs. Gods battle make more sense than others. Smite recently featured the cast of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as the sequel series The Legend of Korra.
These characters have abilities that are similar to those of many mythological figures, therefore their inclusion as skins in June made sense. While some characters in the game use melee weapons, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a more dubious presence, however any ’80s youngster will likely overlook the logical errors in order to rock their favorite party turtle as they defend the ancients.
The heroes in a half-shell appear to have been a success, as fellow Saturday morning cartoon classic Transformers will be joining Smite in the game’s next battle pass in November. According to the latest Titan Forge teaser, Autobot commander Optimus Prime will combat Decepticons Starscream and Megatron as skins for Geb, Jing Wei, and Ra.
The pass includes two skins for each character, one of which integrates the character into Smite’s graphical style and the other of which harkens back to the G1 era with cel-shaded video game graphics.
The G1 versions of the characters are only available in the Prestige Track, which increases the Battle Pass’s 60 tier all the way to level 120. The pass is only required once, but getting all the way to the conclusion of this massive track will necessitate a lot of Smite play during the short months that the content is available.
If previous crossover events are any indication, the pass will unlock a variety of cosmetic items along the route, some of which will be related to Transformers. The specifics of these products are unknown at this time, but anyone who wishes to represent Cybertron and all of its inhabitants will most likely be able to do so if they purchase next month.
With the MOBA genre as a whole settling into the same niche as MMORPGs and auto battlers, Hi-decision Rez’s to include well-known heroes in Smite is excellent. Everyone knows how well these kinds of events work for games like Fortnite, and the same vigor can keep a game in the spotlight even if it just has a small but devoted player base in its later years.
Given how many online-only games slip into obscurity after only a few years on the market, it’s encouraging to see Hi-Rez make strides to maintain its library thriving as the years pass.
