"There Won't Be a Second Chance": 'Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era' Creators Are Preparing Early Access Like a Full Release

The developers of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era from Unfrozen studio have decided to take an unconventional approach to early access: they plan to release the game in 2026 in a nearly complete state, as if it were a full-fledged launch. The reason is simple — the team has one chance to make a good first impression, and they can't afford to waste it.

Studio CEO Denis Fedorov called working on the new Heroes a "huge responsibility." After all, the series' fanbase is massive, and expectations after years of hiatus are sky-high. However, the team has a vision, and they hope to live up to players' expectations.

According to him, the team draws inspiration from all eras of the series, pulling the "best" from each installment. Fedorov himself is particularly fond of Heroes II and III.

As a reminder, the game's free demo became available on October 9, 2025, as part of the "Let There Be Games" demo festival. Since then, it has gathered over 4,000 reviews with a 78% positive rating, and the game itself surpassed one million wishlist additions on Steam. The demo even topped the chart of most popular demos at Steam Next Fest and became the most successful strategy demo in SteamDB's recorded history — with a peak online count of 24,000 concurrent players.