Bob Ross is coming to Smite as a happy little Sylvanus skin

Back in 2015, the legendary painter Bob Ross very briefly turned the realm of Twitch chat into a place of brotherhood and love. Cries of "Ruined!" whenever Bob dove headlong into some mad expression of artistry, and "Saved!" when he pulled it out of the fire—which was every time—were, for a couple of weeks, literally my favorite thing on the internet.   

Now, Bob is returning to the internet in a very different guise: As a skin for Sylvanus, one of the playable gods in the Hi-Rez MOBA Smite. The skin will turn Sylvanus into Bob, just as he was in real life (although perhaps a little more exuberantly afro'ed, if that's possible), equipped with a paint brush, palette, and easel.   

The Bob Ross Bundle, which also includes a loading frame that makes all card art appear as a painting and a "paint splatter Jump Stamp," was created "in close partnership" with Twitch and the Bob Ross estate, Hi-Rez said. "This bundle is our tribute to the greatness of Bob Ross—undeniably one of the true Gods of painting." 

The Bob Ross Bundle for Smite is scheduled to go live on May 9, and will cost you $10 or 700 gems. You can get a preview of the new skin in action starting at around 27:50 in the "Happy Trees" patch notes (patch 4.8) below. 

Andy Chalk

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.