''Heroes of Might and Magic Online'' was a 2.5D

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

for the Chinese market and developed by

Netdragon NetDragon Websoft is a Chinese company that develops and operates massively multiplayer online games in addition to making mobile applications. The company debuted its first product in 2002. Some self-developed games it operates in China are bas ...

. It was part of the ''

Heroes of Might and Magic ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' (commonly abbreviated ''HoMM''), known as ''Might & Magic Heroes'' in 2011–2024, is a series of video games created and developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing. As part of the ''Might and Magic ...

'' franchise. Originally scheduled for release in late 2005, the final release was delayed for three years, and the game launched in May 2008. The game was free of charge. ''Heroes of Might and Magic Online'' finally went offline on 31 March 2014.

Story

The background story was set in the same world as '' Heroes III'' (most notably the kingdom of Erathia) although

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

—the ''

Might and Magic ''Might and Magic'' is a series of role-playing video games in the science fantasy genre developed by New World Computing, which in 1996 became a subsidiary of The 3DO Company. The original ''Might and Magic'' series ended with the closure of t ...

'' brand rights licensor—introduced a new universe for the whole ''Might and Magic'' series after having acquired the rights from

The 3DO Company The 3DO Company was an American video game company based in Redwood City, California. It was founded in 1991 by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins in a partnership with seven other companies to develop the 3DO standard of video gaming hardware ...

. The game did not appear to have an actual story, however, and any events that took place in it would not be considered canon.

Features

''Heroes of Might and Magic Online'' featured four magic systems and allowed the player to choose heroes from eight factions comprising a total of 56 unit types. It was staged on three different levels: * A global, randomly generated level, where players moved and interacted in a typical MMORPG fashion (in realtime) * A strategic level, similar to a Heroes III map, where the heroes moved within a certain amount of time * A turn-based 3D combat level using a tactical grid, similar to the combat mode in Heroes III

English version

A closed

beta test The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

for the English version was held from May 7 to June 9, 2010. Two days later, on June 11, the game went live. The English version only allowed users with Asian

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...

es to play, since TQ's license from Ubisoft was for Asia only.

References

External links

Official Chinese game websiteThe first Russian fan site (in Russian)An international fan site (Multilanguage)
{{Might and Magic series 2008 video games Browser games Heroes of Might and Magic Inactive massively multiplayer online games Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Multiplayer online games Video game spinoffs Video games developed in China