Hi-Rez Studios announces the commencement of open beta testing for SMITE, their free-to-play online action game, so those interested in a little SMITing can now register and download the beta client through the SMITE Website. This is another of those soft launch dealies, as they explain they do not plan any further character wipes going forward. Here's word on the beta, an exclusive skin for testers, and a $100K tourney:

Hi-Rez also announced their sponsorship of an upcoming SMITE competitive season, including a launch tournament with prizing of one hundred thousand dollars. Additional details on the 100K Tournament qualifications and schedule will be communicated in the coming weeks.

"SMITE has been our fastest growing game to date, with over 900,000 players participating in Beta already”, says Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios Chief Operating Officer. “We’ve been giving out keys very liberally, but today we officially drop the key requirement in order to stress and stabilize our North American and European servers in preparation for release. We will continue to polish the game, release additional gods, and further refine the god and item balance over the coming weeks before a general release later this quarter."

All player progress and unlocks up until now will be preserved through Open Beta and into Release with no planned character wipes.

Also, a Limited Edition cosmetic skin for the frost giant Ymir will be awarded to all players who reach Level 30 during the Beta period. That award will be granted upon SMITE’s official release.

The following new SMITE content and features are included in the Open Beta version:

• Graphical upgrade of Conquest Map
• Practice match against new AI opponent Ra
• In-game Team & Roster Management
• Ranked Team Conquest queue - Draft Picking for ranked and Challenge Conquest matches Improved Spectator Camera for Tournament Admins - including a 3-minute delay for spectators to prevent cheating and improved spectator controls (slow-motion, pause, rewind, fast-forward)
• Refer-A-Friend Program