Ubisoft and developer Unfrozen Studio have announced Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, and as the name suggests, it's a deliberate throwback to the strategy gaming roots of the franchise.
Per Ubisoft's announcement post, the game will be released "just in time for [the franchise's] 30th anniversary" and will take place in the land of Enroth as it was before the events of the original 1995 Heroes of Might and Magic.
If you're a Might and Magic buff, you might recognize the name of the as-yet unrevealed continent of Jadame, which is where the game takes place, allowing Unfrozen to include "new factions, biomes, and creatures".
Gameplay will largely be split between two core pillars: exploration, in which you'll find resources and build your base, and combat, in which you'll pit your armies against your enemies.
Compared to previous games in the series, Ubisoft and Unfrozen say you'll have "more control over how [you] level up heroes and their factions". The classic hexagonal grid is back, though, so if you're a Heroes of Might and Magic fan, that'll probably give you a nice nostalgic kick.
Specifically, Ubisoft says Heroes of Might and Magic takes inspiration from the third game in the series, as well as the second and fifth entries, all of which are considered strategy classics by the series' fanbase.
You can check out the announcement trailer for Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era right here.
If you feel like you've heard developer Unfrozen's name somewhere before, you may be thinking of its previous game, Iratus: Lord of the Dead, which took heavy inspiration from Red Hook's Darkest Dungeon. It does, however, prove that Unfrozen has prior when it comes to turn-based combat.
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era launches for PC via Steam Early Access (an unusual move for Ubisoft, but one shared by The Rogue Prince of Persia) next year. Stay tuned for more.
