Campaign

1:13 Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has a single story campaign, and Early Access holds its first act: "The first act of the campaign. More acts will be added with the full release of the game" (Unfrozen, Apr 30, 2026). Unlike earlier Heroes games, which gave each faction its own campaign, Unfrozen folds "all factions' stories into a single campaign", non-linear, with choices that shape the continent (Devlog #1, Sep 13, 2024). Its subject is Jadame, "threatened by a mysterious new demonic power", whose rulers try to build a defensive alliance, "but it's not easy, as everyone seems to hold a grudge against someone" (FAQ, Aug 30, 2024). Acts 2 and 3 belong to Stage 4 of the roadmap, the 1.0 release, which has no date as of Oct 21, 2026.

Quick facts

The story so far

0:05 The threat is the Hive: Unfrozen's site describes rival factions uniting "against the Hive, a swarm of insectoids led by an Inferno demon lord" (Unfrozen), and the cinematic story trailer of Apr 10, 2025 shows the "would-be protectors of Jadame" fighting each other while "a malevolent force emerges, seeking to use this opportunity to claim dominion in the name of their master" (Unfrozen). The master has not been named.

The alliance against it starts with the Dungeon. In a letter published with Devlog #8 (Mar 13, 2025), the Alvar Pact's Triumvirate had proposed the Winter Armistice "just about a month ago", stopping "hostilities between several of the continent's major powers" and paving "the way to finding a solution to the current crisis". The rulers of Dungeon are the ones who "plot a defensive alliance with the other factions" (FAQ).

Some factions' stories wait for later acts. Schism's origin, "their creation and rise to power", will be told "once we expand the campaign with the future acts", after the Early Access release (Devlog #13, Aug 29, 2025).

Missions named in the patch notes

0:20 The first act holds "a total of 11 missions", Unfrozen's roadmap patch video of Sep 30, 2026 says, alongside custom maps, scenarios and over 50 random map templates.

Unfrozen aimed in 2024 to ship "the first 8 missions of the campaign" with Early Access, "still subject to change" (FAQ: Part 2); the launch post promised "the first act" instead. Unfrozen has not published a mission list, but its fixes name these campaign missions:

Sources: Patch #6, Patch #7 (May 21, 2026) and the beta of Oct 15, 2026. Patch #7 lists "Renegade" and/or "Corruption" together, and its notes fix "game area layouts in several missions" and quest triggers across them; the order of the missions is not given. "Fun and Graves" and "Gorges of Discord" are scenarios, not campaign missions.

Heroes, rules and difficulty

The campaign has "campaign-only heroes that will not be" in skirmish, separate from the 18 Heroes each faction has there (FAQ: Part 2). Some skills and objects "are already balanced differently in the Campaign" (Devlog #1), and artifacts carry over from one mission to the next: Patch #8 (Jun 1, 2026) fixed slots that locked when doing so. Since Patch #7, Necromancy is on by default for Necromancer heroes.

Difficulty was the first complaint after launch. Patch #2 (May 2, 2026) made the AI on random maps and scenarios act "very passively" on Easy and weakened it on Normal; for the campaign, Patch #6 said "Balancing of Easy and Normal campaign difficulties is ongoing", changing Never-ending Conflict, Burning Hearts, Deal with a Vampire and Alvar Diruil and recommending a mission restart. The same patch added a Moderate level between Normal and Hard for random maps; see Difficulty and AI.

Each campaign run has its own save category, named after the campaign profile, since the save screen redesign of Sep 30, 2026. Most mission fixes do not apply to saves made inside a mission before a patch, so a restart is often the cure.

8:28 IGN's Early Access review (Apr 28, 2026) called the campaign its least favorite mode: more story-focused than past Heroes campaigns, with choices that "significantly change how you progress through it", but with unskippable cutscenes, the most bugs the reviewer met, and many systems switched off, from town dwellings that cannot be built to subclasses and laws. For a newcomer who has not played the other modes, the review called it "the worst way to play this game".

What comes next

The roadmap of May 28, 2026 puts two campaign items on the road to 1.0:

• Ironman mode (Stage 3): "beat the story without an opportunity to save the game regularly. One save to rule them all!"
• Acts 2 and 3 (Stage 4, 1.0): a "fully fleshed out campaign with a completed story".

Stage 3 has no dates and covers "all the time left in Early Access"; see 1.0 Release Date. Meanwhile Unfrozen has added other story content: The Mysterious Island, a large hand-made map, in Patch #13 (Aug 20, 2026), and the "Prisoners" scenario on Sep 3, 2026. On Oct 15, 2026 it said new story maps and single-player adventures were in progress, "announcements are coming soon" (Unfrozen).

1:14 In Prisoners, the player rescues the commanders of nearby forest outposts who went missing, and the only way to get more heroes on that map is to free them from their prisons, Unfrozen said in its video of Sep 30, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the Olden Era campaign? Unfrozen has not given a length for Olden Era's campaign; before launch it said it could not estimate one but expected "many hours of gameplay" (FAQ: Part 2). Early Access holds only Act 1.

How many acts does the Olden Era campaign have? Three are planned: Act 1 is in Early Access, and Acts 2 and 3 come with the 1.0 release, which has no date as of Oct 21, 2026 (roadmap).

Is the Olden Era story finished? No. Olden Era's story stops at the end of Act 1 in Early Access; the roadmap promises "a completed story" with Acts 2 and 3 at 1.0.

Is there a campaign for each faction in Olden Era? No. Olden Era has one campaign that weaves all the factions' stories together, non-linear, with player choices (Devlog #1).

Does Olden Era have an Ironman mode? Not yet. An Ironman mode for Olden Era's campaign, with a single save, is planned in Stage 3 of the Early Access roadmap.

Who is the villain of the Olden Era campaign? The Hive, an insect cult serving a demonic master whom Unfrozen has not named; Unfrozen's site calls him "an Inferno demon lord".

Sources

• FAQ, Unfrozen, Aug 30, 2024
• Devlog #1: Everything Everywhere All At Once: Game Modes, Unfrozen, Sep 13, 2024
• FAQ: Part 2, Unfrozen, Dec 6, 2024
• Devlog #8: On Triumvirate's Strength and the Alvar Pact, Unfrozen, Mar 13, 2025
• Cinematic Story Trailer @ Triple-i initiative, Unfrozen, Apr 10, 2025
• Devlog #13: On Schism and Their Eldritch Powers, Unfrozen, Aug 29, 2025
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Released!, Unfrozen, Apr 30, 2026
• Patch #2: Difficulty adjustments and Bug Fixes, Unfrozen, May 2, 2026
• Patch #3: Bug fixes and Network stability improvements, Unfrozen, May 3, 2026
• Patch #6: Network Stability, Balance Tweaks & Campaign Fixes, Unfrozen, May 13, 2026
• Patch #7: Removing Abuses and Improving Campaign, Unfrozen, May 21, 2026
• Building the Future - HoMM: Olden Era's Early Access Roadmap is here!, Unfrozen, May 28, 2026
• Patch #8: Skills Rework, Balance Pass & Exploit Fixes, Unfrozen, Jun 1, 2026
• Alliances & Updated Random Map Generator, Unfrozen, Sep 30, 2026
• BETA Patch: Balance Update - New Damage Formula, Smarter AI & New Creatures, Unfrozen, Oct 15, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, Unfrozen, read Oct 21, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era - Cinematic Story Trailer @ Triple-i initiative, Unfrozen Official, Apr 10, 2025 (video)
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Early Access Review, IGN, Apr 28, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era - Early Access Overview!, Unfrozen Official, May 1, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era | Q3 Roadmap Patch: Introducing Alliances!, Unfrozen Official, Sep 30, 2026 (video)