Hi-Rez Expo Announcements Include SMITE Rivals Reveal, SMITE Tactis CBT Announcement, And Paladins Season 1 Update

At the Hi-Rez Expo in Atlanta Georgia, Hi-Rez Studios revealed the next game to join their free-to-play lineup. SMITE Rivals, is a Collectible Card Arena (CCA) game featuring gods from the popular MOBA SMITE. Coming to both mobile and PC devices, the one-on-one game is played in quick matches on a MOBA inspired 3-lane field.

Players will use cards to place units in the lanes while attempting to take the tower on the enemy side. Collecting and unlocking more cards in SMITE Rivals grants access to new units, strategies, and more. Any progression players make on any platform they log into will be saved across platforms, meaning you can continue from anywhere.

Speaking of the SMITE universe, Hi-Rez also announced the kick-off of the Closed Beta Test for its turn-based, 1v1 strategy game SMITE Tactics yesterday. As with other Hi-Rez betas, the Tactics CBT is launching alongside a Founder's Pack that grants immediate access to the game in addition to 15 card packs, and exclusive icon, and a set of legendary cards featuring the Greek goddess, Enyo. As an added bonus, Founder's Pack purchasers will also recieve an Enyo skin for Bellona in SMITE.

As part of the Hi-Rez expo festivities, players can pick the Founder's Pack up right now and save 25% off the normal price. But, you will want to hurry because the offer ends January 12. Otherwise, sign up for the Closed Beta on the SMITE Tactics site.

Finally, Hi-Rez also announced Paladins Season 1 changes. The game's first official season kicks off after the Paladins Invitational -- going on now. It should be noted that while Season 1 will be under way soon, Paladins is still in Open Beta and the developer will continue to add new champions and other content throughout.

To kick off the season, Hi-Rez will be adding a new castle art themed map set within a fairy tale castle and cathedral. This map will offer more corridor-style gameplay with additional verticality.

In honor of the current Invitational , Hi-Rez made a special loot pack available for 600 gems. You can check out the contents in the video below.