Hi-Rez Studios announces SMITE, an upcoming free-to-play DoTA-inspired online battleground featuring combat between gods. The Smite Website and Smite Facebook Page are online, offering some background and images. The game does not yet carry a release date, but they say they already have a playable version working, and they "look forward to sharing additional details about the project in the coming months." Here's a bit more:

Players choose from a selection of mythical gods, join session-based arena combat, and use custom powers and team tactics against other player-controlled gods and non-player controlled minions.

"As a studio and as gamers, we love competitive multi-player games that reward teamwork and strategy", says Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios COO. "With SMITE, we draw inspiration from DoTA-style RTS titles, but leverage the Unreal 3 Engine to introduce original action oriented combat mechanics, great graphics, and a mythology-themed setting. These session-based games depend upon balanced class design, sophisticated stat-tracking, and matchmaking functionality.