After years of rumors and a development cycle that had more than a few fans wondering whether a proper new entry in the series would ever materialize, Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era finally has a date. Hooded Horse, Unfrozen Studio, and Ubisoft confirmed the game will launch in Steam Early Access on April 30, 2026. It will also be available simultaneously on the Microsoft Store via Game Preview, and arrives on PC Game Pass day one.
Olden Era is positioned as both a series revival and a genuine attempt to bring in new players. Set in a never-before-seen land and built on the foundations the franchise established across its best entries, it features strategic empire building, turn-based tactical combat, and RPG mechanics in the style players who grew up with Heroes II through V will recognize. Unfrozen Studio has designed the game with both solo and cooperative multiplayer in mind, with classic game modes alongside new formats. The developers have been deliberately transparent about the early access approach, framing it as a collaboration with the community to shape the full release rather than a soft launch of an incomplete product.
The Heroes of Might and Magic franchise has had a complicated decade-plus. Ubisoft’s stewardship of the IP post-New World Computing produced some high points, most notably Heroes VI and the Might & Magic X RPG spinoff, but also a string of misfires that left longtime fans skeptical about the direction. Olden Era represents a departure from that pattern in at least one respect: Unfrozen Studio is a team made up of developers who have played and loved the series for years. The involvement of Hooded Horse as publisher, a company that has built a reputation specifically around carefully chosen strategy games, is another encouraging signal. Their catalog includes Manor Lords, Zephon, and Terra Nil.
The April 30 date puts Olden Era directly in the spring strategy window, and the Game Pass day-one inclusion should bring it to a wide audience immediately. The early access framing does come with the usual caveats about content completeness, and Ubisoft’s name in the credits will give some series veterans a moment of pause regardless of the studio involved. But the combination of a dedicated developer, a respected publisher, and a franchise that genuinely has an enormous built-in audience gives this one more reason for optimism than the average early access announcement. The Steam page is live now for wishlisting.