Hi-Rez pays tribute to Smite pro David 'Allied' Hance with in-game memorial

David "Allied" Hance was a professional Smite player for teams including Cognitive, Complexity, and Team EnvyUs before retiring in early 2016 and becoming a caster for Hi-Rez Studios. Shortly after that, however, he was diagnosed with cancer; he was declared free of the disease in February of this year and briefly returned to playing Smite. But the cancer soon returned, and he died in May at the far-too-young age of 25.

Allied was also a well-known and respected member and booster of the Smite community, and so to mark his passing and pay tribute to his life and contributions to the game, Hi-Rez has erected a monument to Allied in Smite's Conquest map.

According to the Smite subreddit, the statue, a Greek-themed sculpture with his name engraved in stylized letters below, can be seen now on the Smite PTS.

Hi-Rez also made and posted a very nice tribute video, describing Allied as "a friend to the entire Smite community"—a genuinely sweet tribute to someone who obviously had a very positive impact on players and fans alike.

A look back at a friend to the entire SMITE community; David "Allied" Hance. pic.twitter.com/dsw7O57K5UJuly 13, 2017

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.