Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era

Last updated

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era
Olden Era.jpg
Developer(s) Unfrozen
Publisher(s) Hooded Horse
Ubisoft
Composer(s) Paul Romero
Series Heroes of Might and Magic
Platform(s) Windows
ReleaseTBA
Genre(s) Turn-based strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is an upcoming turn-based strategy game developed by Unfrozen and published by Hooded Horse and Ubisoft for Windows. [1] [2] An installment in the Heroes of Might and Magic series, and will also contain new role-playing mechanics unseen in previous games of the series. In addition to single-player mode, the game will support multiplayer and co-op, and also contain a map editor. It is planned to release in early access in summer 2025. [3]

Contents

Gameplay

The gameplay will be similar to the previous games in the series. The player will control a number of heroes with unique abilities, buying an army of mythological creatures and soldiers with resources. The player will also control one or more of six town types present in the game: Temple, Necropolis, Sylvan, Dungeon, Hive and Schism, that was revealed on August 21, 2025. [4] There, the player has the ability to slowly build up the town, resulting in growth of the player's army and expanding gameplay possibilities. The gameplay is divided into two parts, tactical overland exploration and a turn-based combat system. The heroes controlled by player will gather experience by fighting with monsters and enemy heroes. The world of Olden Era will be the same as the world of the first three games of the franchise, Enroth. The events of the game will happen on the continent of Jadame, which was the setting of Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer but has not been featured in any previous games of the spin-off series Heroes of Might and Magic before. [5]

Development

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era was announced at Gamescom in August 2024. Unfrozen, previously known from Iratus: Lord of the Dead , is developing the game under an agreement with Ubisoft and Hooded Horse. [1] [6] [7] The planned early access release of the game coincides with the franchise's 30th anniversary. Many journalists say that the Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is heavily inspired by Heroes of Might and Magic III . [8] [9] [7]

The developers periodically post information about future factions of the game. The first faction that was presented was Necropolis, gameplay of which was shown on October 31, 2024, dedicated to the celebration of Halloween. [10] On December 22 it was confirmed that the music will be written by Paul Romero (one of the main composers of the previous entries in the series) and Cris Velasco (known for working on games such as God of War , Starcraft II and Mass Effect ). [11] [12] It was also confirmed that the Heroes Orchestra - a group famous for performing the series' compositions in orchestral format before live audiences at concert halls - will be involved in the musical accompaniment for Olden Era, working on orchestral in-game soundtracks. [13]

On March 17, 2025, Unfrozen started a closed beta test of a new "arena" game mode, which allows player to quickly engage in combat with an other player or creature. The tests ended on March 28. [14] [15] On April 10, 2025, as part of the Triple-i Initiative video game showcase, a cinematic story trailer was released, revealing that the game would be available in early access in summer 2025. [16] [17] On August 21, 2025, the "secret" sixth faction was revelad, called "Schism".

References

  1. 1 2 Romano, Sal (July 1, 2025). "Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era to be published by Hooded Horse". Gematsu. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  2. Vicencio, Chastity (July 1, 2025). "Ubisoft Teams Up with Hooded Horse and Unfrozen on Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era". news.ubisoft.com. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  3. Straw, Mike (August 22, 2024). "Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era Announced By Ubisoft". Insider Gaming. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  4. Fuller, Alex (August 23, 2024). "Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era Revealed". RPGamer.
  5. Zerbinatto, Murillo (August 23, 2024). "New Heroes of Might and Magic Game Announced". GameRant.
  6. Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (August 22, 2024). "Ubisoft announce new back-to-roots Heroes of Might & Magic game with the Iratus devs in charge". Rock Paper Shotgun .
  7. 1 2 Macgregor, Jody (August 23, 2024). "You can tell the new Heroes of Might and Magic game is meant to be a throwback to when the series was good because they're not insisting we call it Might and Magic: Heroes this time". PC Gamer .
  8. Reparaz, Mikel (August 22, 2024). "Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Unveiled at Gamescom". Ubisoft News.
  9. Woznicki, Zbigniew (August 22, 2024). "Heroes of Might and Magic Olden Era Preview - The Fan in Me is Cautious". Gamepressure.
  10. Daro, Catherine (November 1, 2024). "Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era – Check Out Necropolis Faction Reveal". Gamespace.com.
  11. "Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era — Music Announcement". unfrozen.studio. December 22, 2024. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
  12. Daro, Catherine (December 22, 2024). "Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era Shared an Epic Music Announcement". gamespace.com.
  13. Gaifullina, Ekaterina (December 23, 2024). "Культового композитора Heroes of Might & Magic привлекли для Olden Era". app2top.ru (in Russian).
  14. "В Steam пройдёт закрытая «бета» Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era, причём уже очень скоро — как получить доступ". 3DNews - Daily Digital Digest (in Russian). Retrieved April 11, 2025.
  15. "Sign Up For Open Playtest Of Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era". 80.lv. March 18, 2025. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
  16. "Возвращение на Энрот: Представлен сюжетный трейлер Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era". GameMAG (in Russian). April 10, 2025. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
  17. "Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Hits Steam Early Access This Summer". news.ubisoft.com (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved April 11, 2025.