Hi-Rez Studios has confirmed that the Closed Beta for the action Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game SMITE will begin on Thursday, May 31.

Representatives from the Studio have also announced that there will be no character wipes during the planned Beta. What’s more, player development in terms of character unlocks and progression will extend beyond Closed Beta, into Open Beta and later into final release.

According to the game’s official web page, “SMITE is an online battleground between mythical gods. SMITE is similar to DoTA games but with a few significant changes including a third-person perspective and WASD movement. Players choose from a selection of gods, join session based 5 versus 5 arena combat, and use custom powers and team tactics against other players and minions. SMITE will be free-to-play and is a digital download for the PC.”

It further adds, “The Closed Beta build of SMITE includes seventeen playable gods from five mythological pantheons on a fire-themed battleground map. Five gods are available for free – Artemis, Ra, Kali, Ymir, and Sun WuKong. Additional gods can be unlocked via gametime or more quickly via in-game microtransactions. Hi-Rez Studios will be adding new playable gods during the Beta period and beyond.”

“We are excited to shake-up the moba genre with SMITE” said Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios Chief Operating Officer. “Whether you are a fan of existing DoTA type games or MMO PvP battleground play, we invite you to check out SMITE and play alongside our dev team in Beta.”

Check out the “SMITE” gameplay video from PAX 2012 below.