how a cult series of video games was created

how a cult series of video games was created

Fantasy and science fiction series of computer games “Heroes of sword and magic” includes seven main parts. The legendary series quickly won the hearts of gamers, but faced major problems. We tell the story of Heroes of Might and Magic in our article.

How it all began: a home office and a gamer wife

In 1986, the little-known studio New World Computing, founded by John Van Caneghem and Mark Caldwell, developed the role-playing game Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum. The office was located in the house of John’s parents. In 1990, the progenitor of turn-based strategies appeared – King’s Bounty. John’s wife liked the game so much that she asked for a sequel.

This is how Heroes of Might and Magic appeared (in the Russian editions of Heroes of the Sword and Magic). It was developed and released in 1995. The goal of the game is to destroy all enemies, get an artifact, capture a certain city (or several).

Advanced graphics and thoughtful mechanics quickly won the hearts of gamers. On the wave of success, the company released two more parts. In 1996, the rights to the game were transferred to The 3DO Company. The project manager appointed by the company inspired the development team so much that he was even included in the game as a character with a morale booster.

It is also interesting that one of the main characters is Sir Christian. It was named after Deputy Chief Game Designer Christian Vanover. And the music for the entire series of games was recorded by a live orchestra.

Difficult times: bankruptcy and bugs

3DO’s overall financial situation by 2003 had become hopeless as the games had ceased to generate much profit. Previously taken loans became impossible to repay, 3DO went bankrupt.

As a result, the corporation Ubisoft bought the rights to the entire series for 1.3 million dollars. She began looking for a developer and found him in the person of the Russian company Nival Interactive. She did the fifth part of the game (not too successful), but then the team was removed from work. At the same time, rebranding happened: Heroes of Might and Magic became Might & Magic Heroes. The following parts were made by the German Limbic Entertainment.

The seventh part could not rehabilitate the series – after its release, the game received negative feedback related to a large number of bugs. After a barrage of criticism, Ubisoft announced the end of its collaboration with Limbic Entertainment. This led to the closure of the Might & Magic Heroes VII project, as well as the freezing of the franchise in general.

Intellectual property and release plans for the new part

In August 2024, Ubisoft announced a new part of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, the release of which planned for 2025.

Might & Magic and Heroes are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment. In general, the company has registered many brands from this universe, for example, MIGHT & MAGIC CLASH OF HEROES, HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC and others.

Reference. Ubisoft’s sales for the last financial year amounted to 2.3 billion euros. They increased by 26.8%. Operating profit was 313.6 million euros, although the company reported a loss of 585.8 million euros a year ago. The number of unique active players of all Ubisoft projects increased by 4% to 138 million people.

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