Development History

0:21 Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is developed by Unfrozen, the independent studio behind Iratus: Lord of the Dead, which pitched a new Heroes game to Ubisoft with a demo in 2020 and won the license in 2021 (Unfrozen). Ubisoft, which owns Heroes of Might and Magic, revealed the game at Gamescom on Aug 22, 2024 (Ubisoft News). After two delays, Hooded Horse joined as publisher alongside Ubisoft on Jul 1, 2025, Might and Magic's creator Jon Van Caneghem became Unfrozen's creative advisor on Jan 29, 2026, and Unfrozen co-founded the holding company Nova Assembly on Apr 9, 2026. The game entered Steam Early Access on Apr 30, 2026, sold 250,000 copies in its first 24 hours and 1,000,000 by May 28 (Unfrozen).

Quick facts

Unfrozen and the pitch to Ubisoft

Unfrozen was founded in 2016, and its first game, Iratus: Lord of the Dead, sold over 500,000 copies, which made the team "confident in our ability to create a solid tactical turn-based game" and try something bigger (Unfrozen). Why Heroes? "Because we're fans!" At a time when no new Heroes game seemed to be coming, Unfrozen made a demo in 2020 and approached Ubisoft, "who in 2021 accepted our vision". Its random map generator was in development from 2021 (Unfrozen). The studio describes itself as about 50 people working remotely (Unfrozen) and says it develops Olden Era with its own funds, almost entirely in-house, and with no generative AI in any asset (Unfrozen).

Its stated design pillars were "Evolution, not Revolution", a mix of old and new, and talking with the community: it built on Heroes 3, Heroes 5 "and to some extent" Heroes 2, kept the hexagonal battlefield and classic artifacts, and added Faction Laws, subskills, active unit abilities, an online ladder and the Arena draft mode (Unfrozen, Olden Era and Heroes 3).

Reveal and the road to Early Access

0:00 Ubisoft revealed Olden Era at Gamescom on Aug 22, 2024, with Unfrozen as its "partner studio" and Early Access planned for the first half of 2025, the series' 30th anniversary year (Ubisoft News, Unfrozen). Unfrozen called it "the official prequel of HoMM", set on Jadame, a continent "never before explored in the main Heroes of Might and Magic series". Faction reveals followed over the next year, from Necropolis on Oct 31, 2024 to the secret sixth faction, Schism, on Aug 21, 2025; the faction announced as Sylvan became Grove (Factions).

• Playtests: an open Arena playtest ran from Mar 17 to around Mar 28, 2025, with sign-ups "x10 more than we anticipated" (Unfrozen); by Apr 7, 2025 there were over 100,000 playtest requests and 500,000 wishlists (Unfrozen).
• First delay: on Jun 13, 2025 Unfrozen moved Early Access to "later in 2025": "as an indie studio, we need a bit more time" to work through feedback (Unfrozen).
• Second delay and demo: on Oct 9, 2025, during Ubisoft's 30th anniversary stream for the series, the window moved to 2026 "to conduct more tests, improve the UI, and redesign some of the units", and a free demo went live with Temple, Dungeon, Necropolis and Schism (Unfrozen). It became the top demo of Steam Next Fest with a peak of over 24,000 players, and wishlists passed 1,000,000 on Oct 15, 2025 (Unfrozen).
• Ranked tests: a closed matchmaking playtest under NDA from Mar 25, 2026 and an open stress test of the Arena on Apr 22, 2026 (Unfrozen).
• Date: on Apr 1, 2026 Unfrozen set Early Access for Apr 30, 2026, "more than 10 years since the last Heroes game" (Unfrozen); it came to the Microsoft Store as a Game Preview and PC Game Pass the same day (Unfrozen). Wishlists reached 1,500,000 on Apr 24, 2026 (Unfrozen).

Hooded Horse joins

On Jul 1, 2025 Hooded Horse, the publisher of Manor Lords, Against the Storm and 9 Kings, became Olden Era's publishing partner "together with Ubisoft", to bring more marketing and reach into "regions where we do not currently operate" (Unfrozen). Ubisoft "will remain involved as the holder of the Heroes IP, and continue to fully support the project". Hooded Horse's CEO Tim Bender wrote that Heroes "formed a pivotal part of my childhood". Steam lists Hooded Horse as the publisher; Unfrozen's press kit names "Ubisoft, Hooded Horse".

The art style and the UI rework

Devlog #15 of Apr 24, 2026 explains the look (Unfrozen). "Olden Era is not a remake of any previous chapters", Unfrozen says; its art draws "especially" on Heroes 2 and on King's Bounty, while the "core gameplay loop" of Heroes 3 "remains a cornerstone". The team interviewed over 20 opinion leaders, from pro players to map makers, chose stylized 3D for performance and longevity, and aimed for lower system requirements than the Steam median, with an SSD recommended.

Feedback on the demo reshaped the game before launch. Community Feedback #4 on Mar 6, 2026 showed an interface "partially redesigned to be closer to the classic games", a bigger battlefield with zoom, global spells unlocked with Astrology Points and Insight, more readability settings, rebindable hotkeys and remade Dread Knights and Temple Cavalry, with the Aqualotls remade as Naiads (Unfrozen).

Music

0:25 On Dec 22, 2024 Unfrozen named its composers: Paul Anthony Romero, "the iconic composer of the Might and Magic series"; Cris Velasco, known for God of War, StarCraft II, Borderlands, Bloodborne and Mass Effect; and Mateusz Alberski with Heroes Orchestra, who orchestrate the melodies (Unfrozen). The score mixes choir and instrumental music and includes "a few remixes" of tracks from earlier games; the track in the announcement video is Romero's.

Jon Van Caneghem

1:14 On Jan 29, 2026 Unfrozen announced that Jon Van Caneghem, founder of New World Computing and creator of Might and Magic, had joined as a Creative Advisor, "the first time since Heroes of Might and Magic IV that he's participated in the series' creation" (Unfrozen). He advises "on game design, worldbuilding and other creative matters" and called the demo "an absolute delight that captures the original spirit of the series". Unfrozen's CEO Denis Fedorov called him "an honorary creative advisor".

Nova Assembly

On Apr 9, 2026 Unfrozen formed Nova Assembly with Sad Cat Studios (REPLACED), Weappy (This Is the Police), VEA Games and Game Garden: a holding "co-owned and run by the participating studios", with Fedorov as its CEO and Weappy's Ilya Yanovich as creative director (Unfrozen). Unfrozen says it is "not a buyout", that it keeps full creative control, that there will be "no changes to Olden Era", and that it brings "more budget, more cool ideas and more resources".

Since launch

0:44 Olden Era sold 250,000 copies on Steam in 24 hours, enough that Unfrozen "broke even on development costs in just one day" (Unfrozen), and passed 1,000,000 on May 28, 2026 (Reception and Sales). Unfrozen published its Early Access Roadmap the same day, hired the map maker Papyjama in June (The Mysterious Island), delivered the roadmap's first stage with Alliances on Sep 30, 2026, and opened the Balance Update Beta on Oct 15 (Patch Notes). As of Oct 21, 2026, the 1.0 release has no date.

Frequently asked questions

Who develops Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era? Unfrozen, the independent studio behind Iratus: Lord of the Dead, develops Olden Era. It pitched the game to Ubisoft with a demo in 2020, and Ubisoft accepted in 2021.

Is Ubisoft involved in Olden Era? Yes: Ubisoft owns Heroes of Might and Magic, revealed Olden Era at Gamescom on Aug 22, 2024, and stays involved as the rights holder, while Hooded Horse has published the game with Ubisoft since Jul 1, 2025.

Who composed the music for Olden Era? Olden Era's music is by Paul Anthony Romero, the series' longtime composer, and Cris Velasco, with orchestrations by Mateusz Alberski and Heroes Orchestra, as Unfrozen announced on Dec 22, 2024.

Is Jon Van Caneghem working on Olden Era? Yes: the creator of Might and Magic joined Unfrozen as a creative advisor on Jan 29, 2026, advising on game design and worldbuilding, his first work on the series since Heroes 4.

What is Nova Assembly? Nova Assembly is a holding company Unfrozen formed on Apr 9, 2026 with four other studios, led by Unfrozen's CEO Denis Fedorov; Unfrozen says it is not a buyout and changes nothing about Olden Era's development.

Why was Olden Era delayed? Unfrozen delayed Early Access twice: in June 2025 to work through feedback "as an indie studio", and in October 2025 to 2026 for more tests, a better interface and redesigned units. It launched on Apr 30, 2026.

Sources

• The Land of Glory: 1,000,000 Copies of Olden Era Sold!, Unfrozen, May 28, 2026
• A Legendary Start: 250,000 Copies of Olden Era Sold!, Unfrozen, May 1, 2026
• Heroes, Arise - Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era launches into Early Access, Unfrozen, Apr 1, 2026
• Devlog #15: How and Why We Chose the Artstyle of Olden Era, Unfrozen, Apr 24, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era reached 1,500,000 wishlists!, Unfrozen, Apr 24, 2026
• Call to Arms: Stress-Test!, Unfrozen, Apr 16, 2026
• Unfrozen joins Nova Assembly, Unfrozen, Apr 9, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era's Early Access begins on April 30th 2026!, Unfrozen, Apr 1, 2026
• HoMM: Olden Era | Community Feedback #4: UI, QoL and Others!, Unfrozen, Mar 6, 2026
• Jon Van Caneghem teams up with Unfrozen!, Unfrozen, Jan 29, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era hits 1 000 000 wishlists! THANK YOU!, Unfrozen, Oct 15, 2025
• Demo is LIVE NOW!, Unfrozen, Oct 9, 2025
• New partnership announcement - teaming up with Hooded Horse!, Unfrozen, Jul 1, 2025
• Important Update Regarding Early Access, Unfrozen, Jun 13, 2025
• Olden Era hits 500 000 wishlists - Thank You!, Unfrozen, Apr 7, 2025
• Arena Playtests are over!, Unfrozen, Mar 31, 2025
• Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era - Music Announcement, Unfrozen, Dec 22, 2024
• Devlog #1: Everything Everywhere All At Once: Game Modes, Unfrozen, Sep 13, 2024
• Designing a Heroes Game, Unfrozen, Aug 29, 2024
• Announcement: A new Heroes of Might and Magic by Unfrozen is coming soon!, Unfrozen, Aug 22, 2024
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Unveiled at Gamescom, Ubisoft News (Mikel Reparaz), Aug 22, 2024
• About Unfrozen, Unfrozen, read Oct 21, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era - Jon Van Caneghem teams up with Unfrozen!, Unfrozen Official, Jan 29, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might And Magic Olden Era - Announce Trailer, Unfrozen Official, Aug 22, 2024 (video)
• Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era - Music Announce (Paul Romero, Cris Velasco & Heroes Orchestra), Unfrozen Official, Dec 22, 2024 (video)
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era | Community Feedback #5: Upcoming PvE Content and Events!, Unfrozen Official, Jul 28, 2026 (video)