Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era

Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era is a turn-based strategy game in the iconic HoMM franchise from Unfrozen (a Russian studio founded in 2016 in Saint Petersburg, since 2022 about 50 people in distributed offices; previously known for Iratus: Lord of the Dead, a tactical RPG about a necromancer). The game is published by Hooded Horse and Ubisoft, which has held the HoMM IP rights since 2003. The action takes place on the continent of Jadam (from Might and Magic VIII, but new to the Heroes series) before the events of the very first game: it is a prequel, not a sequel.

The game has six factions: Temple (order/light), Necropolis (undead, rebuilt from scratch), Grove (nature/elves), Dungeon (dark elves), Hive (a new insectoid faction) and Schism (the splinter faction, announced in August 2025). Each faction has seven unit tiers, as in Heroes III. The key mechanic is "Faction laws" / "Concentration points": an internal currency specific to each faction, with faction-specific bonuses. This closes the old question of all factions sharing one resource economy.

There are four game modes: Arena (quick 1v1 battles on the tactical screen only), Classic (random maps with the full cycle of heroes, towns and exploration), Single-Hero (one hero with fixed troops) and Scenario (authored maps with a story, 4 scenarios at the start of EA). Multiplayer: hot-seat and asynchronous online play (not real time, a classic HoMM decision). A map editor is included in EA. 100+ heroes with skill progression in the spirit of Heroes III.

The music was written by Paul Romero (composer of Heroes II/III/IV/V, the voice of the franchise) and Cris Velasco (Marvel's Spider-Man 2, God of War: Ascension, Bloodborne). The orchestral arrangements are by Heroes Orchestra, a fan collective active since 2018, which has received official status for the first time. For HoMM veterans, the name Paul Romero is already an argument in favor of buying the game.

Early Access began on April 30, 2026. In the first week 650,000+ copies were sold (250K in 24 hours, 500K in 72 hours), an exceptional result for the genre. On Steam the rating is "Very Positive" (88% of 17,059 reviews), and on stopgame.ru it is 4.2/5. The EA cycle is planned for about a year; buying an EA key gives access to the full game with no extra payment (a single price model, no upgrade ticket).

Localization: a full Russian interface and subtitles from Hooded Horse and Ubisoft. There is no official Russian voice acting in EA: Steam shows Russian Full Audio, but this is a planned status. Voice acting is promised for the full release, around 2027. An unofficial AI dub by Shimon Mood exists, use it at your own risk.

Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era is a new turn-based strategy game from the Russian studio Unfrozen (the authors of Iratus). Six factions - Temple, Necropolis, Grove, Dungeon, Hive, Schism - on the continent of Jadam, before the events of the first Heroes. Early Access since April 2026, with a full Russian interface and subtitles (official voice acting is promised for the full release).