Early Access

0:14 Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era entered Steam Early Access on Apr 30, 2026, also as a Game Preview on the Microsoft Store and in PC Game Pass, with six factions, a tutorial, Act 1 of the Campaign, scenarios, three game modes in single player and multiplayer, ranked matchmaking, hotseat, puzzle challenges and a pre-release map editor. Unfrozen announced the date on Apr 1, 2026 (Unfrozen). Its answers in Steam's Early Access section say "We plan to remain in Early Access for a year, but that could change depending on how the design develops with player feedback" (Steam, read Oct 21, 2026). As of Oct 21, 2026 the game is still in Early Access and has no date for 1.0 (1.0 Release Date). Hooded Horse's launch trailer shows the card "Now available in Early Access" with the Steam and Xbox on PC logos, then a minute of the game as it shipped: the adventure map, hero and town screens, battles on snow, grass and lava, and the campaign's dialogue choices.

Quick facts

What Early Access includes

0:16 Unfrozen listed the launch content twice, on Apr 1 and on launch day (Unfrozen, Apr 30, 2026):

• Six factions: Temple, Dungeon, Schism, Grove, Necropolis and Hive
• An in-game tutorial
• The first act of the campaign, with more acts "with the full release of the game"
• Premade scenarios with self-contained stories, "with even more coming during Early Access"
• Classic, Single Hero and Arena modes, in single player and multiplayer (Game Modes)
• Matchmaking, ranked play and leaderboards for all three modes
• Random Map Generator templates
• Hotseat on one PC
• A series of puzzle-style challenges
• A pre-release version of the Map Editor

The release date trailer of Apr 1, 2026 ran through the same promises in order: a "6 Powerful Factions" title over the faction towns, "Explore Mythical Realms" over the adventure map, then the campaign's dialogue, the spellbook and a battle won.

Steam's own description says the same in short: "The Early Access version is fully playable, featuring 6 unique factions and three different game modes available to play in both single and multiplayer" (Steam). The full version, it adds, should have more scenarios and map templates, a better map editor, "an additional Underground map layer" and "the full story of Olden Era across all acts of the narrative campaign".

The road to Early Access

0:00 Ubisoft and Unfrozen revealed Olden Era at Gamescom on Aug 22, 2024 and planned Early Access for the first half of 2025 (Unfrozen); the announce trailer that day ended on "Wishlist now on Steam", with no date on screen. The date then moved four times:

Hooded Horse joined Ubisoft as publisher in between, on Jul 1, 2025 (Unfrozen). The story of those years is in Development History.

The demo

0:59 A free demo came out on Oct 9, 2025, the day of the second delay, with Temple, Dungeon, Necropolis and Schism and the Classic, Single Hero and Arena modes (Unfrozen). It was the number one demo of that month's Steam Next Fest and peaked at over 24,000 players at once, which Unfrozen said was the best for a strategy demo in SteamDB's records. A demo update on Oct 17, 2025 calmed the AI on lower difficulties and added the Crossroads and Jebus Outcast templates; Unfrozen said then that it did "not plan to remove the demo for now" and would give notice before taking it down (Unfrozen). The demo was used again for an Arena-only stress test on Apr 22, 2026 (Unfrozen). Steam still listed the demo (app 3241970) on Oct 21, 2026; Unfrozen has not announced its removal. Hooded Horse's demo trailer ends by spelling out the offer, "Four factions", "Three game modes", "Three templates", then "Available in Early Access 2026".

Launch day

0:04 Olden Era came out on Apr 30, 2026 with a 25% "Early Access release discount for the first 2 weeks", after 1.5 million players had wishlisted it, the ninth most wishlisted game on Steam (Unfrozen). Unfrozen promised hotfixes "non-stop over the first few weeks" and a roadmap "once the initial dust has settled". Both came: Patch #1 on May 1, seven numbered patches in May alone (Patch Notes), and the Early Access Roadmap on May 28, 2026.

0:44 The launch went well. Olden Era sold 250,000 copies on Steam in 24 hours, which Unfrozen said covered its development costs, and over 1,000,000 by May 28, 2026 (Reception and Sales).

How Early Access is going

1:31 Unfrozen has kept to its plan so far. The first roadmap stage, due in Q3 2026, shipped on Sep 30 with Alliances and a fully random Random Map Generator, and Unfrozen wrote "we're serious about keeping every promise we make" (Unfrozen). New content has come between the big patches: The Mysterious Island on Aug 20, the custom map Broken Alliance and the scenario Prisoners on Sep 3, and since Oct 15 a public beta of the "biggest balance update since Early Access" with a new damage formula, a smarter AI and two new creatures (Balance Update Beta).

1:22 The community takes part in several ways. Unfrozen says it is "active on our Discord and the Steam forums" (Steam); it runs surveys, such as the PvE survey of Community Feedback #5 (Unfrozen, Jul 28, 2026), and tests big changes on a public beta branch first, saying "the beta is not a vote" but a search for problems (Unfrozen). The first official tournament, the Alvari Cup, began on Aug 1, 2026 (Unfrozen).

What is still to come

The underground map layer, the Thieves' Guild, campaign Acts 2 and 3, a PvE Roguelike Mode, Observer Mode and replays, and map sharing are all still to come as of Oct 21, 2026. The roadmap puts some in Q4 2026 and the rest in a Stage 3 with no date, which "includes all the time left in Early Access", or at 1.0 (roadmap). What is delivered and what is not is tracked item by item in Early Access Roadmap, and the price in Price and Editions.

Frequently asked questions

When did Olden Era come out in Early Access? Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era entered Early Access on Apr 30, 2026, on Steam and on the Microsoft Store as a Game Preview, and in PC Game Pass.

How long will Olden Era be in Early Access? Unfrozen says it plans "to remain in Early Access for a year", which "could change". No date for 1.0 has been announced as of Oct 21, 2026.

What is in the Olden Era Early Access? Six factions, a tutorial, Act 1 of the campaign, scenarios, Classic, Single Hero and Arena modes in single player and multiplayer, ranked matchmaking, hotseat, puzzle challenges and a pre-release map editor, plus Alliances and The Mysterious Island added since launch.

Is the Olden Era demo still available? Steam still listed the free Olden Era demo (app 3241970) on Oct 21, 2026. Unfrozen said in Oct 2025 that it did not plan to remove it for now and would give notice before taking it down.

Will the price of Olden Era go up? Possibly. Unfrozen's Steam answers say "We might increase the price during the Early Access period as additional content and features are added", but no increase has been announced as of Oct 21, 2026.

Is Olden Era finished? No. Olden Era is fully playable but unfinished: campaign Acts 2 and 3, the underground layer, the Thieves' Guild and more are planned before or at 1.0.

Sources

• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era on Steam, Steam, read Oct 21, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era - Early Access Release Date Trailer, Unfrozen Official, Apr 1, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era - Demo Now Available | Fantasy Turn-Based Strategy, Hooded Horse, Oct 9, 2025 (video)
• Heroes of Might And Magic: Olden Era - Launch Trailer | Fantasy Turn-Based Strategy, Hooded Horse, Apr 30, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might And Magic Olden Era - Announce Trailer, Unfrozen Official, Aug 22, 2024 (video)
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era (Game Preview), Microsoft Store
• Announcement: A new Heroes of Might and Magic by Unfrozen is coming soon!, Unfrozen, Aug 22, 2024
• FAQ: Part 2, Unfrozen, Dec 6, 2024
• Cinematic Story Trailer @ Triple-i initiative, Unfrozen, Apr 10, 2025
• Important Update Regarding Early Access, Unfrozen, Jun 13, 2025
• New partnership announcement - teaming up with Hooded Horse!, Unfrozen, Jul 1, 2025
• Demo is LIVE NOW!, Unfrozen, Oct 9, 2025
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era hits 1 000 000 wishlists! THANK YOU!, Unfrozen, Oct 15, 2025
• DEMO Update is available NOW!, Unfrozen, Oct 17, 2025
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era's Early Access begins on April 30th 2026!, Unfrozen, Apr 1, 2026
• Call to Arms: Stress-Test!, Unfrozen, Apr 16, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era reached 1,500,000 wishlists!, Unfrozen, Apr 24, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Released!, Unfrozen, Apr 30, 2026
• A Legendary Start: 250,000 Copies of Olden Era Sold!, Unfrozen, May 1, 2026
• Building the Future - HoMM: Olden Era's Early Access Roadmap is here!, Unfrozen, May 28, 2026
• The Land of Glory: 1,000,000 Copies of Olden Era Sold!, Unfrozen, May 28, 2026
• Announcing the first official tournament for Olden Era: The Alvari Cup!, Unfrozen, Jul 28, 2026
• Community Feedback #5: Upcoming PVE Content and Events!, Unfrozen, Jul 28, 2026
• Alliances & Updated Random Map Generator, Unfrozen, Sep 30, 2026
• Hotfix: Missing Emojis, Lobby & Stability, Unfrozen, Oct 2, 2026
• BETA Patch: Balance Update - New Damage Formula, Smarter AI & New Creatures, Unfrozen, Oct 15, 2026
• BETA Patch: Balance Tweaks - Spells, Heroes & a New Artifact, Unfrozen, Oct 21, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era - Early Access Overview!, Unfrozen Official, May 1, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era | Community Feedback #5: Upcoming PvE Content and Events!, Unfrozen Official, Jul 28, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era | Q3 Roadmap Patch: Introducing Alliances!, Unfrozen Official, Sep 30, 2026 (video)