SMITE World Championship Preview .

(source: http://www.havok.tv/?p=100)

The SMITE 2015 World Championships is almost here. At current tally, the prize pool sits at almost $2.5 million, and eight teams have been slated to fight for it. Staff writer Matthew McDanel and I will be flying into Atlanta to do live coverage of the event, so stay tuned to MMOGames.com for player and developer interviews, play-by-play coverage, and SMITE events happening around town. Here is a complete preview and break-down of everything you need to know about the tournament this weekend.

 

The Prize

Hi Rez studios, like Valve and Riot, has been generating prize funds for the tournament via in-game micro transactions. But unlike its sister games, SMITE has generated most of its money through daily playable events. In an interview, developer Seth Chisam talks about the game’s fund raising methods. He says, “Going into our very first SMITE World Championship, we knew we wanted to use some sort of crowd sourcing method to impact the prize pool.” Unlike past events that raised funds via new playable characters and skins, the fund raiser for the SMITE World Championship challenges players to partake in an odyssey.

The SMITE Odyssey is a twenty-one week event that allows players to advance through the seven realms of existing in-game mythology, collecting items and cosmetics along the way. Developer Jay Gardiner discusses unlockables.  In a promotional video for Twitch, he says, “The art team was so enthusiastic about making the content for the Odyssey, that even though our schedule was fully packed, we just kept having great ideas and  wanting to go the extra mile.” Also, for completing multiple events, the game awards players special World Championship icons and borders. The icons and borders are rare, limited edition items that will become unavailable after the event closes in the coming days.

The current prize pool is $2,451,382, and it is still growing. This number is staggering, considering SMITE is the youngest of the major MOBA games. And the prize pool is projected to grow in the coming years, given the growing popularity of eSports and the game’s jump to consoles later this year. I am genuinely curious to see how the game will continue to grow.

 

The Tournament

The SMITE World Championship will take place on January 9-11 at the Cobb Performing Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The tournament is sponsored by Curse, Alienware, Xbox, Logitech, the state of Georgia, Alpharetta, Gamer Launch, Kontrol Freek, HA&W, and Internap.

Events begin at 11AM EST on Friday and run through 9PM on Sunday. The after party, presented by Curse, will begin at 9PM Sunday and is scheduled to last until 10PM. Here is the current schedule:

Friday

10:00AM Doors Open

11:00AM Pre-show

11:30AM Match One (Cog Red vs. DiD)

12:45 Match Two (SK Gaming vs. We Love Bacon)

2:00PM Match Three (Titan vs. OMG)

2:45PM Xbox One reveal

3:15PM (Cog Prime vs. Name Not Found)

4:00PM Season Two reveal

4:45 Match Five (TBA)

5:45 Match Six (TBA)

7:00PM Match Seven (TBA)

8:00PM Match Eight (TBA)

9:00PM Wrap-up

Saturday

10:00AM Quarterfinal Pre-show

10:30AM Quarterfinal One

1:30PM Quarterfinal Pre-show

2:00PM Quarterfinal Two

5:00PM Semifinal One Pre-show

5:30PM Semifinal One

8:30PM Semifinal Two Pre-show

9:00PM Semifinal Two

12:00AM Wrap-up

Sunday

10:00AM Pre-show

10:30AM Consolation Match

1:30PM Cosplay Finals and Awards

2:00PM Grand Finals Pre-show

2:30PM Grand Finals

7:30PM Award Ceremony, Trophies and Wrap-Up

9:00PM After Party

I am really excited for all the scheduled events, particularly the Xbox One reveal. SMITE feels great on a keyboard, but it is tailored for a controller. I can’t wait to see what Hi Rez plans on doing with next-gen graphics, and I hope the jump to console will help the game reach a broader audience. Any time an indie developer makes a console game–especially an indie developer with the amount of heart Hi Rez has–I am overcome with happiness for them. AAA games are fun, but independent games have souls.

(source: http://www.gamebreaker.tv/entertainment/cosplay-entertainment/13-sexy-smite-cosplay-pics-you-need-to-see)

And, as always, I am always excited to see cosplay. The cosplayers and the cosplaying events at the League of Legends World Championships and Blizzcon were arguably my favorite parts of the tournaments. I am always floored by the creativity and devotion of fans. I can’t wait to see what awaits me at the SMITE World Championships.

Also, on a slightly off-topic note, I am incredibly proud of Georgia Interactive Entertainment for embracing the game and promoting it. From the very start, the community has been one of the game’s strongest supporters. Georgia is truly a southeastern mecha for artists, filmmakers, and game developers. Without such support, the game might not have reached such a broad audience, and it surely wouldn’t have built such a steady fan base. From the Walking Dead to Zombieland, the state continues to push the boundaries of entertainment. I hope other states take notice of Georgia and its support for independent artists.

 

The Teams

For eSports junkies, some of the teams at this year’s SMITE World Championships might look a little familiar. Incarnations of SK Gaming and OMG played at the 2014 League of Legends World Championships, Titan played in the 2014 DotA 2 International tournament, and 404 Team Not Found has been floating around in the amateur DotA 2 brackets for a long time. The Cognitive teams, Red and Prime; DiD; and We Love Bacon are SMITE exclusive, and they will all be reckoning forces this weekend.

 

The Bracket

Here is the current bracket:

Match One: Cognitive Red vs DiD

Match Two: SK Gaming vs. We Love Bacon

Match Three: Titan vs. OMG

Match four: Godnitive Prime versus 404

Matches five and six will be played by the losers of matches one and two and three and four, respectively. The winners of these matches will advance on to the quarterfinals.

Matches seven and eight will be played by the winners of matches one and two and three and four, respectively. The winners of these matches will advance on to the semifinals.

The quarterfinals will be played by the match five winner and the match eight loser and the match six winner and the match seven loser. The winners advance to the semifinals.

The semifinals will consist of the winners of matches one and seven and the winners of matches two and eight.

The finals will be played by the two winning semifinal teams.

We will be covering the entire event live from Atlanta all weekend so be sure to follow us on Twitter at @MMOGames and Check back often as we give in depth articles on the matches and more.