Gaming

New God Cliodhna is Out Today to Haunt SMITE’s Battleground

Published

5 years ago

October 20, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Hi-Rez and Titan Forge Games released SMITE’s new Celtic Goddess, the Banshee queen Cliodhna, in the latest major update.

Floating around in tattered rags, her fingers like claws, Cliodhna embodies the ever-dreaded figure of a specter. She brings a horror game feel to SMITE – just in time for the Halloween season. As all SMITE characters, Cliodhna can be unlocked for free just by playing.

With her ghostly form and blood-curdling wails, Cliodhna inspires despair among her enemies. She is said to haunt places where much blood has been shed, so it is no surprise that her lust for fear ultimately drew her to the Battleground of the Gods.

From a design standpoint, Cliodhna is an extremely ambitious Goddess. She can walk through and inside walls, a first in SMITE. From there, she lurks unseen until she lashes out towards her unaware prey in true Assassin fashion.
“When first designing Cliodhna we knew we wanted to bring a horror feeling to the Battleground”, says SMITE

Designer Daniel ‘PonPon’ Cooper. “During brainstorming the idea of her disappearing into a wall and then striking out from inside of it resonated with the team and we knew this would be the main feature that would truly make her a horrific opponent. Entering into a wall had to be smooth, the visuals needed to be clear, and the gameplay intuitive to make this work. Our team invested heavily into this new tech and as a team I believe we nailed it.
Not only do enemies need to fear the walls that surround them but when they face Cliodhna directly their senses may betray them. She is the only Goddess to Deafen enemies—briefly muting all sounds—and to become temporarily invisible only to the prey she is hunting. Beware the jump scare!”

Extensive details on Cliodhna can be found in this Closer Look blog post written by the developers.

Winter Conquest Map
With today’s update comes the new ‘Winter Deadwoods’ Conquest Map, bringing the Battleground of the Gods straight into snow and ice in a scary atmosphere befitting Cliodhna. This new map also introduces a new gameplay feature: Lanterns. They can be destroyed to create a cloud of Mist. Players inside turn invisible to enemies outside.

For the first time in SMITE, as part of the Living Conquest initiative the ongoing Season 8 is being played on a different map of Conquest every quarter, ensuring the action always feels fresh.

The Reaping Event
Gods go bump in the night as the Reaping, SMITE’s yearly Halloween event, is back! Players will be delighted to get six thematic skins including one for free, plus spooky cosmetic items unlocked with quests.

Beast Seer Artio can be unlocked for free through quests, while Halloween Hysteria Baron Samedi is an Exclusive bonus reward obtained after getting three skins. The ultimate collection reward is the Unlimited Screamy Chibi Izanami skin.

Asia

S8UL’s League of Legends roster qualifies to represent India at Asian Games 2026

Published

2 hours ago

June 17, 2026

Wladimir P.

s8ul’s-league-of-legends-roster-qualifies-to-represent-india-at-asian-games-2026

S8UL Esports’ League of Legends roster has qualified to represent India at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, running from September 19 to October 4. The organisation said the team secured qualification through the regional qualifiers after winning the National Esports Championships (NESC) 2026, described as the official national qualification tournament for the Asian Games.

S8UL said the roster competing under India’s banner is Akshaj Shenoy (Kat Bot), Aakash Shandilya (Infi), Sanindhya Malik (Deadcorporal), Mihir Ranjan (Lotus), Ahmed Shahid (Nero), and Rahul Bisht (Bob). The regional qualifiers featured 14 teams across a group stage and a split stage, with top performers advancing to the Asian Games main event.

In Group B, the team went unbeaten against Jordan, Sri Lanka, and Kazakhstan to progress, according to S8UL. In the split stage, it lost to Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia but did enough to secure a berth. India will now face opponents including Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Vietnam at the main event.

Four players—Kat Bot, Infi, Deadcorporal, and Lotus—were also part of India’s League of Legends contingent at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023, where S8UL said the team finished fifth.

Akshaj Shenoy aka Kat Bot, captain of India’s League of Legends team, said, “Qualifying for the Asian Games is a proud moment for all of us. We knew the regional qualifiers would be extremely competitive, and every match demanded complete focus. For many of us, this will be our second Asian Games, which makes this qualification even more special because we understand the level of competition that awaits us. We are grateful to S8UL for believing in this roster and providing us with the support, stability, and opportunities needed to keep improving as a team. Representing India is always an honour, and we’ll do everything we can to make the country proud in Aichi-Nagoya.”

S8UL co-founder and CEO Animesh Agarwal aka 8Bit Thug added, “Representing India at the Asian Games is among the highest honours an athlete can achieve, and seeing our League of Legends roster earn that opportunity is incredibly special. This team has demonstrated resilience, discipline, and a willingness to continually improve, qualities that are essential for success at the international level. At S8UL, our goal has always been to create pathways for Indian athletes to compete on the biggest stages in the world. We have no doubt they will give their all when they step onto the stage in Aichi-Nagoya and compete for the nation with pride,” S8UL also noted that Gurashish Singh (Soul) and Prateek Bhaunt (B Haunt) previously qualified for the Asian Games in Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6 after winning at NESC 2026.

The post S8UL’s League of Legends roster qualifies to represent India at Asian Games 2026 appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Gaming

Geckos Games Launches Momentum – The Most Adrenaline-Charged Live Sports Game Ever Built

Published

1 day ago

June 16, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

geckos-games-launches-momentum-–-the-most-adrenaline-charged-live-sports-game-ever-built

Geckos Games launched Momentum, a patent-pending real-time sports prediction game unlike anything in the market. THRILLZZ Free Social Sportsbook gone live as the exclusive launch partner on the opening day of the world’s biggest Soccer tournament.

Five Minutes. One Question. Pure Adrenaline.

Every five minutes of a live match, Momentum asks players one question: which team has the Momentum right now? Not who will win the game. Not what the final score will be. Who has the upper hand – this minute, on this pitch – based on every pass, attack, and pressure play happening in real time.

Makes it different from anything that has come before: the Momentum shift on a single event. A yellow card. A saved shot. A dangerous run. Every on-field event recalculates the balance – and players watch their position move with it in real time. It is not a black box. Players see each event land inside the game – the moment it happens on the pitch.

Then comes the timer. As the five-minute window counts down to zero, the tension becomes almost unbearable. Players who are in the win zone are watching every second, knowing a single event in the dying moments can flip everything. The last few seconds of every round are unlike anything else in sports gaming – raw, unscripted, impossible to put down.

Zero Latency. Official Data. Real Stakes.

Momentum is powered by an official match data with zero latency. Every event flows instantly into the game engine. There is no delay, no approximation. What players see is what is happening on the field right now.

This is not a simulation. It is not a simplified model. It is live sport, translated into a game in real time and that distinction is everything.

The post Geckos Games Launches Momentum – The Most Adrenaline-Charged Live Sports Game Ever Built appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

Conferences

Xsolla joins Gamesforum Hamburg 2026 with D2C commerce keynote and panel

Published

1 week ago

June 9, 2026

Wladimir P.

xsolla-joins-gamesforum-hamburg-2026-with-d2c-commerce-keynote-and-panel

Xsolla will take part in Gamesforum Hamburg 2026 on June 9–10 at NORD EVENT Panoramadeck in Hamburg, Germany, with Jane Startseva, Vice President of Business Development, EMEA, scheduled for a keynote and a panel focused on direct-to-consumer (D2C) web shops and measurement.

On June 9 at 10:00 AM, Startseva is set to join Adam Smart, Global Director of Product – Gaming at AppsFlyer, for a 30-minute keynote titled “Web Shops and Attribution: Closing the Revenue Gap.” The session will focus on how developers track revenue performance for web shops and how attribution impacts user acquisition targets and growth planning, according to the company.

Later that day at 4:30 PM, Startseva will appear on a panel titled “The Belonging Economy: How Mobile Games Build Value Through Player Relationships” alongside Oliver Lindahl, Strategist & Behavioural Scientist at Sagely, and Pedro Alvin, Marketing Lead at Supercell. Xsolla said the discussion will cover player messaging, store optimization, new monetization opportunities, and trust in out-of-game purchase experiences.

“Being an Exclusive Global Partner of the Gamesforum series reflects how seriously Xsolla takes the European games market and the developers building here,” said Berkley Egenes, Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at Xsolla. “The shift to direct-to-consumer commerce is one of the most important things happening in this industry. Showing up at events like Hamburg, with partners like AppsFlyer, is how we help the industry move the conversation forward and build D2C businesses on a foundation video game studios and developers can actually measure.”

The post Xsolla joins Gamesforum Hamburg 2026 with D2C commerce keynote and panel appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.