For the past few weeks, the Heroes of Newerth IP has been teased, and now Heroes of Newerth: Reborn has been officially announced. Set to launch as a free-to-play game on the iGames platform, Heroes of Newerth: Reborn comes from Kongor Studios and Garena. All signs point to Heroes of Newerth: Reborn being a web3 project, as iGames is a web3 platform and Garena’s publishing expertise is heavy on web3 games such as Free Fire. The press release and announcement of the game, however, do not make any mention of web3 elements such as a token (cryptocurrency) or NFTs.
Heroes of Newerth was originally released in 2010, when part of the original Dota team from the custom Warcraft III map split off to create their own standalone games. Valve got the rights for Dota 2, while Heroes of Newerth came from S2 Games. One of the co-founders of Kongor Studios is Jesse Hayes, a former S2 Games developer, and he had this to say about the project: “After years of community support and the dedication of a passionate fan base, we are beyond excited to bring Heroes of Newerth back to life. This isn’t just a relaunch, but a reimagining of what the game can be in today’s competitive gaming world. From the visuals to the network performance, we’ve worked hard to bring the best possible experience to both veteran players and newcomers.”
Heroes of Newerth: Reborn is launching with over 80 heroes, and the team is looking to expand the roster after launch. The game’s audio and visuals have been revamped with a fully remastered world and a modernized UI. Returning players will have to learn new mechanics, as well as face off against a new boss character, Phoenix. The game is also adding a role queue, which will allow players to select which role(s) they want to play when queuing up for a match.
“Heroes of Newerth has always held a special place in the hearts of players, and with HoN: Reborn, we’ve kept what made the game unique while upgrading everything around it,” said Nick Caras (BreakyCPK), Director of Communications at Kongor Studios. “Our partnership with Garena has been essential in making this a reality, and we can’t wait for players to jump back into Newerth with the improved iGames platform.”
