Hi-Rez Studios Announces New Free to Play Title "Paladins"

Hi-Rez Studios, the team behind SMITE, has announced their next foray into the free to play game space with "Paladins: Champions of the Realm." The team based, first person shooter combines elements of fantasy with the progression of card based games to augment abilities and stats. Paladins is currently slated to release on the PC and current-generation consoles.

“We’ve managed to keep Paladins under wraps for over a year now, so the dev team is really looking forward to receiving feedback from the hands-on demo at Gamescom,” said Todd Harris, COO at Hi-Rez Studios. “We’ve focused on making something we find fun and competitive, and soon players will help us craft how Paladins grows from here.”

In Paladins, teams are pitted against one another to capture control points and demolish the enemy's base while defending their own. Each combatant enters the battle with a primary weapon, a set of combat and movement abilities, and a personal mount to carry them quickly from one fight to the next. Players begin each match with a customizable deck of skill cards which can be activated and evolved upon leveling up in-match for enhanced strength, defense or utility throughout the session.

If you're headed to Gamescom you'll be able to get some hands on time with the game, if not, pay the new Paladins website a visit to sign up for beta and check out some information on some of the game's heroes. Release is currently scheduled for 2016.