Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Unveiled at Gamescom

news.ubisoft.com:

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era brings the turn-based strategy franchise back just in time for its 30^th anniversary. Releasing on PC in Steam Early Access in the first half of 2025, Olden Era is set before the events of the first game, and will take players back to the world of Enroth and the continent of Jadame. Featuring new factions, biomes, and creatures, Jadame has been referenced but never explored in the main Heroes of Might and Magic series.

Developed by partner studio Unfrozen, Olden Era's turn-based gameplay is split between exploration, with players taking control of a hero to find resources, build towns and castles, and gather armies of mythic creatures; and tactical battles, in which players pit those armies against opposing forces. Expanding on the classic fundamentals of the series, Olden Era will introduce a number of new features: Players will have more control over how they level up heroes and their factions, for example, with faction-specific abilities, new systems for learning skills and magic spells, and artifacts that now impart bonuses if players equip more than one piece from a set.

Additionally, the units players command during battles now have secondary abilities that can be activated when a new energy meter fills. "Graverobbers can summon Skeletons, Dungeon units have unique battle stances, and Sylvan Druids are casters whose array of spells may rival a beginner hero," says Narrative Lead Alexandra "Alphyna" Golubeva at Unfrozen. "That's a lot of options to explore in battle!"

In a nod to the series' history, these skirmishes trade the rectangular grids of more recent Heroes of Might and Magic games for a battlefield of hexagonal spaces. This - like much of Olden Era - is inspired by