Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era
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Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era 1.0 release: Apr 2027Not announced: our best guess from Unfrozen's plan to stay in Early Access for about a year.
Best guessUnfrozen's Early Access answers on Steam say it plans "to remain in Early Access for a year" from Apr 30, 2026, and its May 28, 2026 roadmap puts 1.0 after Stage 2 (Q4 2026) and a Stage 3 with no date. Stage 1 shipped on time on Sep 30, 2026, so we count to the first anniversary of Early Access, at the hour Unfrozen announced the Early Access release (13:00 UTC). Steam

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Jadame

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is set on Jadame, a continent of the world of Enroth that no Heroes game had explored before, centuries before the role-playing game Might and Magic 8. Unfrozen tells its lore through in-world writers, chief among them an old minotaur scholar named Kelarr.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is set on Jadame, "a mysterious continent in turmoil, never before explored in the main Heroes of Might and Magic series" (Unfrozen, Aug 22, 2024), in the same world of Enroth as Heroes 1 to 3. The story takes place "centuries before the events of the RPG game Might and Magic VIII" (Devlog #15, Apr 24, 2026), the only earlier game set on Jadame, and Ubisoft placed it "before the events of the first game" of the Heroes series at the reveal (Ubisoft News, Aug 22, 2024). That is why Unfrozen calls Olden Era "the official prequel". Most of what is known about the continent comes from letters and interviews in Unfrozen's devlogs, written by characters inside the world, above all an old minotaur scholar named Kelarr.

An old-style painted map on a dark gray sea. On the left, orange plains with black volcanoes and a bright red lava river; above them gray, cracked land around a volcano. The center and east are green with winding rivers, forests and brown mountain ridges, and small towers and ruins dot the land. Chains of small islands lie to the north and east.
A hand-painted map of a continent with a volcanic land and a river of lava in the west, gray ash fields, green valleys and rivers in the middle and scattered islands in the seas around it, in an image from Unfrozen's Steam announcement "Devlog #3: On Lore and Subjectivity" (Oct 20, 2024). Unfrozen

Quick facts

World Enroth, the world of Heroes 1 to 3 and Might and Magic 6 to 8
Continent Jadame, explored before only in the Might and Magic role-playing games
When Centuries before Might and Magic 8 (Devlog #15); no in-world year given
Narrator Kelarr, an old minotaur scholar who writes the unit descriptions
Places named Shadowspire, Alvar, Garrote Gorge, Murmurwoods, the Wasp Nest, the Ifarine Sea isles, Chimera Falls, Castellatus
The threat The Hive, an insect cult serving an unnamed demonic master
Factions Temple, Necropolis, Dungeon, Hive, Grove, Schism

Enroth and Jadame

The Heroes series shares its world with the Might and Magic role-playing games 6 to 8 up to Heroes 3; Heroes 4 moves to a new world, Axeoth, and Heroes 5 is a soft reboot in Ashan. Olden Era "is a return to Enroth", Unfrozen wrote in Devlog #3 (Oct 20, 2024), and its first FAQ ruled out Ashan: the game takes place on Enroth "like in HOMM I-III" (FAQ, Aug 30, 2024). The title points both ways, to that classic world and to the "classic" gameplay of Heroes 2 and 3.

Jadame had "only ever been explored by Might and Magic games (a separate franchise) and not Heroes", which gave the team "some creative freedom" (Unfrozen, Aug 29, 2024). Unfrozen used it for new peoples and three new Factions, while everything added has to fit "the Branding Team's vision of the world", meaning Ubisoft's, which owns Might and Magic (Devlog #15).

The timeline

Unfrozen has given no year, only anchors:

  • Olden Era comes "centuries before" Might and Magic 8 (Devlog #15).
  • The Night of Shooting Stars and the subjugation of Eeofol, which begin the Kreegan (Inferno) presence on Enroth and Antagarich, happen "centuries after the events of Olden Era" (Devlog #7, Feb 11, 2025). By Might and Magic 8 "there's no devil presence left whatsoever on Jadame". That is why the game has no Inferno town, and why its demonic faction is new.
  • Before all of it lies the Silence, and before the Silence the Time of Wonders, when the Forefathers, "godlike benefactors", and the Four Scholars shaped the world (Devlog #9, Apr 11, 2025). The Necromancers' Guild began "during the first several centuries after the Silence" (Devlog #4, Nov 15, 2024).

Places

The map of Jadame Unfrozen showed in October 2024 was a work in progress, "inspired by an awesome fan version by Markon Phoenix" (Devlog #3). The places named so far:

  • Shadowspire, in eastern Jadame, holds the largest volcano on the continent, dormant, while the volcanoes to its south are active. It is "an important stronghold of necromancers" but "actually ruled by vampires": the head of its Necromancers' Guild is the vampire Lord Thant, a researcher of Nightshade Magic (Devlog #4). See Necropolis.
  • The Ifarine Sea isles hold another branch of the Guild (Devlog #4).
  • Alvar is the surface city of the red-skinned dark elves; Garrote Gorge is home to the Stygianscale dragons; the minotaurs of the Ravage Roaming herd live in Balthazar Lair. Together they form the Alvar Pact of the Dungeon faction (Devlog #8, Mar 13, 2025).
  • Murmurwoods is the Grove's forest, bound by a root network called the Mycelium that may have been made by the Forefathers or the Four Scholars; mana colors its glades scarlet (Devlog #9).
  • The Wasp Nest, Chimera Falls and the ruined village of Castellatus belong to the Hive's story (Devlog #3, Devlog #7).

Unfrozen's faction reveals open on the towns these peoples build. The Necropolis reveal of Oct 31, 2024 starts on a dark town of towers lit green.

The Grove reveal of Apr 30, 2025, made while the faction was still called Sylvan, starts on a town grown around a giant tree among scarlet leaves, the color mana gives the glades of Murmurwoods.

The Hive reveal of Feb 14, 2025 starts on a town of dark spires glowing red over lava.

Faiths that disagree

Unfrozen built the lore on unreliable narrators. Temple's followers believe the Sun is "a magic chalice where all good souls go after death", which is why they preach self-improvement and hate necromancers; an Alvar dark elf "know[s] that the sun is just an orb of fire in the sky"; a Murmurwood satyr believes souls are drawn back into the world (Devlog #3). The game does not say who is right. "Some of these questions will be answered in the story. But others will remain open-ended," Unfrozen wrote.

The same choice handles the old argument over Might and Magic's science fiction, a universe Unfrozen calls "space techno fantasy". Instead of settling whether the Kreegans are space aliens, characters tell the world as they see it, and all unit descriptions are written by one scholar who "can still be wrong". He is "an old minotaur", Kelarr, who interviews the Shadowspire necromancer Khel in Devlog #4 and is "still missing" by Devlog #8. A Dungeon hero called "Kelarr, son of Navarr" appears in the notes for Patch #11.

The Hive and the crisis

The villain is the Hive, made from the "primitive, half-sentient tribes of wasps" of Might and Magic 8. It is "a cult for the demonic master, whose essence courses through every insect", and Unfrozen leaves open whether the Wasp Nest's insects were corrupted by the new fiery power or summoned it (Devlog #7). Unfrozen's game page calls the master "an Inferno demon lord" (Unfrozen); he has not been named. The cinematic story trailer of Apr 10, 2025 ends on a horned demon with glowing eyes rising out of the dark, the power behind the swarm.

Against it, the Alvar Pact proposed the Winter Armistice, which "stopped hostilities between several of the continent's major powers, and thus paved the way to finding a solution to the current crisis", in a letter published with Devlog #8. How that alliance holds is the subject of the Campaign.

The planes and Schism

Schism brings Enroth's planes into the story. The Realm Between Realms (the Plane Between Planes of Might and Magic 8) separates the Material World from the Elemental Planes, and the barrier is thinnest at four darker layers: the Abyss under the oceans, the Chthonic Depths beneath the crust, the Underworld of volcanic caverns such as Nighon or the Jadamean Cave Network, and the Starry Firmament (Devlog #13, Aug 29, 2025). Schism's founders were Alvari elves who searched the ruins of their Vori ancestors, found artifacts taken from the Triton Empire and opened a Rift to the Abyss. Their full story is saved for later campaign acts.

Schism's reveal of Aug 29, 2025 opens on its town: an icy city around a tall crystal spire under a pink sky.

Technology in decline

"Not known to many, the world of Enroth is going through technological decline the closer we get to the events of the RPG Might and Magic VIII," Unfrozen wrote in Devlog #15. Its examples are two Neutral Creatures: the Worldwatcher, a reimagined "TERMINATOR" Drone from Might and Magic 6, and the Couatl from Might and Magic 8.

Familiar faces

Because elves, vampires, the undead and elementals live long, some characters players know can appear centuries early (FAQ: Part 2, Dec 6, 2024). Devlog #15 shows new designs for Vatawna from Heroes 2, Ethric the Mad from Might and Magic 6, Artorius Veritas from Might and Magic 8 and a young Vesper, set beside "Old Vesper in Heroes II". Vatawna (Grove), Ethric (Necropolis) and Vesper (Temple) are playable Heroes (Patch #11). The Unicorn and the Pixie return as redesigned Heroes 2 creatures. How Olden Era relates to the most famous game of the series is on Olden Era and Heroes 3.

Frequently asked questions

When is Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era set? Olden Era is set centuries before the role-playing game Might and Magic 8, on the continent of Jadame in the world of Enroth (Devlog #15); Ubisoft placed it before the first Heroes game. Unfrozen has given no in-world year.

Is Olden Era connected to Heroes 3? Yes, loosely: Olden Era shares Enroth, the world of Heroes 1 to 3, but takes place on another continent, Jadame, centuries earlier. The Inferno invasion of Heroes 3's era happens "centuries after the events of Olden Era" (Devlog #7).

Is Olden Era the same world as Might and Magic? Yes. Olden Era takes place on Enroth, the world of Might and Magic 6 to 8, and Jadame is the continent of Might and Magic 8; Unfrozen redesigned characters and creatures from those games, such as Artorius Veritas and the Couatl.

Who narrates Olden Era's lore? Olden Era's unit descriptions are written by an in-world scholar, an old minotaur named Kelarr, who can be wrong (Devlog #3).

Why is there no Inferno faction in Olden Era? The demons' arrival on Enroth comes centuries after Olden Era, and by Might and Magic 8 no devils remain on Jadame, so Unfrozen built the Hive, a demon-worshipping insect cult, instead (Devlog #7).

Who is the Hive's demonic master in Olden Era? Unfrozen has not named him as of Oct 21, 2026: the devlogs say "the devil" and "the demonic master", and Unfrozen's site calls him "an Inferno demon lord".

Sources

Moments

Heroes of Might And Magic: Olden Era - Launch Trailer | Fantasy Turn-Based Strategy

Hooded Horse

  1. Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is set on Jadame, "a mysterious continent in turmoil, never before explored in…

Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era - Necropolis Faction full reveal (Happy Halloween!)

Unfrozen Official

  1. Unfrozen's faction reveals open on the towns these peoples build. The Necropolis reveal of Oct 31, 2024 starts on a…

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era - Grove Faction Official Full Reveal

Unfrozen Official

  1. The Grove reveal of Apr 30, 2025, made while the faction was still called Sylvan, starts on a town grown around a…

Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era - Hive Faction full reveal (Happy Valentine’s Day!)

Unfrozen Official

  1. The Hive reveal of Feb 14, 2025 starts on a town of dark spires glowing red over lava.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era - Cinematic Story Trailer @ Triple-i initiative

Unfrozen Official

  1. The villain is the Hive, made from the "primitive, half-sentient tribes of wasps" of Might and Magic 8. It is "a cult…

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era - Schism Faction Official Full Reveal

Unfrozen Official

  1. Schism's reveal of Aug 29, 2025 opens on its town: an icy city around a tall crystal spire under a pink sky.

Photos

An old-style painted map on a dark gray sea. On the left, orange plains with black volcanoes and a bright red lava river; above them gray, cracked land around a volcano. The center and east are green with winding rivers, forests and brown mountain ridges, and small towers and ruins dot the land. Chains of small islands lie to the north and east.

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See also

Last updated Oct 21, 2026 by the Vi.ki team. Page text CC BY-SA 4.0.

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