Recently,SMITEannounced a crossover with the popular metal band Slipknot. In an official post, the developers confirmed that all nine members would be given skins in the game. Meanwhile, a blog post on Knotfest revealed that the collaboration would also come with a special music pack, containing the songs “Duality,” “Psychosocial,” and “The Devil In I.”
While theSMITEx Slipknot announcement did come as a surprise, it’s not uncommon these days to see games crossing over with pop culture icons. After all, crossovers like these are excellent ways to hook more fans. However, there’s something to be said aboutSMITE’sinteresting decision to collaborate with a real-world band.
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An Unexpected SMITE Collaboration
The crossover with Slipknot is the first timeSMITEhas opted to collaborate with real-world artists. Past crossovers have all been with either television or web series, such asRWBY, theAvatarseries,and evenStranger Things. In these crossovers,SMITEreleased skins for the series’ fictional characters. So, this new partnership with Slipknot will be the first time that Hi-Rez Studios makes player skins out of real-world people.
All nineSlipknot members will be getting skins inSMITE, with three each being assigned to one god. Mage god Poseidon will be getting skins for Corey Taylor, Sid Wilson, and Craig Jones. Warrior god Chaac will get skins based on Jim Root, Alessandro Venturella, and Mick Thomson. And lastly, mage god Raijin will be given skins for Michael Pffaf, Jay Weinberg, and Clown.
Surprisingly, a majority of theSMITEcommunity reacted positively to the upcoming crossover. Users on both Reddit and Twitter noted thattheSMITEskins looked good. There were even some people commenting that they’d be reinstalling the game specifically for theSMITEx Slipknot crossover. Though, of course, other players either didn’t care much for the crossover or thought it was a strange choice for Hi-Rez Studios. Whatever the case, this collaboration makes for some interesting implications for the free-to-play MOBA game.
More Real-World Crossovers for SMITE?
While skins aren’t technically part ofSMITE’sgreater lore, it’s funny to think that the members of Slipknot have now achieved god status. It’s even funnier to think of beloved band members fighting it out in a battleground for the gods, withpopular Slipknot tracks playing in the background.
That aside, if this crossover is a success, it could pave the way for more like it. Perhaps the community can expect more band collaborations with the likes of Ghost and GWAR. Alternatively, Hi-Rez Studios might double down on real-world partnerships in general. Possibilities are, quite literally, endless. After all, these pop culture crossovers are everywhere in the gaming sphere.
For example,Fortniteis well-known for its collaborationswith online personalities, like LazarBeam, athletes, like LeBron James, and even musicians, such as Ariana Grande and Radiohead.League of Legendsdid the same by creating the virtual pop group K/DA, which featured the voices of Madison Beer, Jaira Burns, and some of the members of (G)I-dle. EvenCyberpunk 2077took advantage of their partnership with Keanu Reeves, who famously played the role of Johnny Silverhand in the title.
In short, real-worldgaming crossovers generally do wellfor a game and its community — at least, when they’re done right.SMITEx Slipknot is just one of the many instances of this, especially since it seems to be doing well so far. That said, players will have to wait for the event’s actual release to see how well the collaboration does. And the wait won’t be long as it’s set to come out sometime this month.
SMITEis available now for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
