Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, or MOBA for short, is becoming one of PC gaming’s (and gaming in general) biggest genres to-date, and it is no surprise why. With games like League of Legends breaking record after record when it comes to both players and viewership, and propelling the genre forward into the virtual eSports field, success is everywhere. Despite this success though, MOBAs have yet to see any real form of play on consoles. Certainly there have been games in the past that have tried to “cash in” on the genre’s popularity, but for the most part no real game has actually felt like it truly worked for console gaming thanks to the hunkering reliance of mouse, keyboard and top-down perspective.And this is where Smite steps in, Hi-Rez’s third-person mythological-based strategy that bears the markings of a game ready to adapt. New to the MOBA scene, Smite only officially launched in March of last year but has since built a following that any developer would crave for. With six million and counting downloads of the free-to-play game, and a very serious competitive scene to boot, the studio behind Global: Agenda and Tribes: Ascend chose the Smite World Championship 2015 as the occasion to show players and media the game’s Xbox One version, due out in late 2015.AusGamers was lucky enough to get some hands-on time with the new console version of Smite, plus a chance to sit down and chat with both Hi-Rez’s chief operating officer Todd Harris and Xbox One producer Andy Anderson. We’ll have more about what those two had to say later, but read on for my full impressions of the MOBA that will revolutionise the genre for console gaming.One of the key advantages that Smite has over others in the genre is that they opted for the unique third-person camera view over the typical top-down lane perspective, and in doing that have secured themselves an almost natural feel to the console transition. Sitting down with an Xbox One controller in hand it was almost like the game had been playable before this exclusive session, with the controls coming naturally without too much head scratching and frustration. A placard was next to me listing the two varied controller schemes available in the preview build, but rarely did I glance at it.With the camera and movement controls mapped to the thumbsticks and the face buttons as active skills, it was almost too easy to play the game. I was worried that skill shots would be almost impossible to translate onto the slower moving controller, however again I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of which I could utilise my God abilities. With a simple increase in thumbstick sensitivity you can go even further with accuracy, something I found the controller allowed greater control over than the mouse on PC.In my time with the Xbox One version I was able to play a variety of champions, including Fenrir and Scylla, who offered varied playstyles to truly test the controller’s capabilities. With Fenrir being a melee-style god I was worried that the controller would fail out when coming into close contact with enemies, however never did that ever actually happen. Instead, I was able to quickly manoeuvre my character around enemies ensuring my abilities all hit, and when activating my ultimate I never had trouble in bringing back an enemy between my clenched teeth. The same applied to Scylla, a range-based role where accuracy is key. Never did I feel like the controller failed me at some point, instead the shrunken scheme allowed me almost unparalleled control that I couldn’t get on PC. Of course that isn’t to say the mouse and keyboard control scheme doesn’t have its advantages, but Hi-Rez have done a fantastic job in translating Smite to Xbox One - something COO Todd Harris admits wasn’t part of any plan.“We did not have a grand vision at the genesis of Smite of making a MOBA that translates to a console. We wanted to make a really fun game, and our background was as a PC developer but once the game became playable, it became apparent to us as a development team and the community when they started plugging controllers into their PCs that this would translate well [to consoles].”“We knew we didn’t want to be a copycat MOBA, and we knew we didn’t want to have the same targeting mechanics, even on the PC. The fact that it translates so well into controller just became an obvious opportunity.”And that translation is what I believe will make the Xbox One version so successful. With controls similar to games like Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider and even Call of Duty, those coming to the game with no prior background on what a MOBA is will feel right at home after a few practice runs. Hi-Rez’s Xbox producer Andy Anderson elaborated on this, noting that the “biggest thing is the view of the game.”“It’s a very natural feel to sit down with the controller and move around and aim with your thumbsticks.” Microsoft agreed, he adds. “MOBAs are the biggest genre out there, so if you’re Microsoft – they’re good business people – they’re looking at that thinking ‘How do we get into that? We want a piece of that.’ They saw Smite and said, ‘that’s how we get into that, that’s the perfect fit for our console.’”Of course a game isn’t defined just by its controls, and with a MOBA the second biggest challenge is UI. How do you ensure that the players are getting the right feedback, that they aren’t being overwhelmed with information and that the information can be utilised to mould your god or goddess over time? Throw out the entire PC UI and work from the bottom, which is exactly what Hi-Rez has done, and in doing that have built a dedicated console-friendly version with a focus on clear usability and navigational ease.Hands-on with the Xbox One version proved Todd and Andy’s comments, even with it being in a pre-alpha state. Character movement felt natural, auto-aiming wasn’t too overbearing and the console-specific UI blended naturally with functionality. Whether this translation to consoles successfully works is to be seen, but from my hands-on time I honestly couldn’t put the controller down, it was just that entertaining.It isn’t clear yet whether all this successful console translation will pay off in the end, but it’s clear that both Hi-Rez and Microsoft are in this for the long haul. Being the first true MOBA on a console will not only be groundbreaking for the genre, but it has a lot of promise for a company that is so passionate about the community, something every MOBA game requires. And after being in Atlanta to witness Smite’s very first world championship in-person, that community is set to increase tenfold thanks to the Xbox One’s simple pick-up-and-play attitude. Now it is just up to Hi-Rez in capitalising on that fantastic momentum, which according to Andy is going to be a wait-and-see approach.“The approach we’re taking now is that we very strongly want eSports [on consoles]” Andy says. “Every bit of the design we’ve done for the game has had that in the back of our minds: how will this play for eSports? But we’ll also be looking to the community and the players. You have to have the demand. We’ll see how it evolves, and go from there.”Smite for Xbox One is expected to launch sometime in mid-2015, however registrations for open beta are now open