Development History

Heroes of Might and Magic 3 was made by New World Computing, the studio founded by Jon Van Caneghem, and published by The 3DO Company, which had bought the studio in 1996; it came out for Windows on Feb 28, 1999. Van Caneghem hired David Mullich in 1997 "to lead the Heroes of Might and Magic III development team", and the music was by Paul Romero with Rob King and Steve Baca. Two expansions, Armageddon's Blade (1999) and The Shadow of Death (2000), and the eight Heroes Chronicles followed before 3DO went bankrupt in 2003 and sold Might and Magic to Ubisoft for $1.3 million. Ubisoft released the HD Edition in 2015, decided in 2022 to "reinvest" in the series, and announced the Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake for 2027 on Aug 25, 2026. How it was received is on Reception and Legacy.

Quick facts

New World Computing and 3DO

New World Computing was founded by Jon Van Caneghem with Michaela Van Caneghem and Mark Caldwell, and was best known for the Might and Magic role-playing games, the first of which, programmed by Van Caneghem, came out for the Apple II in 1986 (Wikipedia). His 1990 strategy game King's Bounty was the forerunner of Heroes of Might and Magic, which began in 1995 and continued with Heroes 2 in 1996 (Wikipedia). The 3DO Company bought New World Computing on Jul 10, 1996, and it became a 3DO division; Van Caneghem stayed on as its president and "lead visionary" (Wikipedia).

GameSpot's 1999 review described the studio as "an uncommon exception that excels on not one but two fronts", role-playing and strategy, with the Heroes spin-off having "nearly eclipsed its role-playing progenitor" (GameSpot, Mar 1, 1999).

Making Heroes 3

Van Caneghem met David Mullich, a designer and producer who had made The Prisoner (1980) and produced I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1995), at a game design panel, and hired him in 1997 to lead the Heroes 3 team; Mullich led it through Heroes 4, and the Armageddon's Blade hero Sir Mullich is named after him (Wikipedia).

What the team changed from Heroes 2, as reviewers described it in 1999: eight town types instead of six, seven creature types in a hero's army "as opposed to five in the previous games", seven creatures in each town, every one of them upgradable, many with special abilities, an underground layer on maps and larger maps, and a new, more serious look of 3D-rendered creatures (GameSpot, Mar 1, 1999; Wikipedia). The game shipped with a map editor and seven campaigns telling the story of Queen Catherine's return to Erathia (Story). Players could also share one computer in "hotseat" games or play over a network (Prima's official guide, p.2, 1999).

The Restoration of Erathia came out for Windows on Feb 28, 1999 in North America and Apr 1, 1999 in Europe (Ubisoft; Wikipedia). 3DO shipped a Mac version in December 1999 (3DO press release, Dec 21, 1999), and Loki Software made the Linux port the same month (Wikipedia). Wikipedia adds that a Dreamcast version was developed but canceled in 2000 because the console could not run the game well.

The music

Paul Romero, a concert pianist and composer, wrote music for the series "along with Rob King and Steve Baca" (Wikipedia). GameSpot's review praised its "incredible and well-suited orchestral themes for each castle", noting that the operatic vocals of Heroes 2 were gone (GameSpot, Mar 1, 1999), and the game was runner-up for Best Music in GameSpot's awards for 1999 (Wikipedia). Romero later turned the best themes of his Heroes scores into his Symphony No. 1, "Heroes", completed in 2008, and Ubisoft released a soundtrack collection of the whole series in January 2008 (Wikipedia). He went on to write music for Olden Era with Cris Velasco (Wikipedia).

The expansions and the dropped Forge town

Armageddon's Blade reached stores on Sep 29, 1999 with "6 new campaigns, over 35 new stand-alone scenario maps", the Elemental Conflux town and a random map generator (3DO press release, Sep 29, 1999). Wikipedia's account of its making: work began in early 1999 around a science-fantasy town called the Forge, tied to an ending of Might and Magic 7; it was almost finished when some fans objected that science fiction did not belong in Heroes, and New World Computing dropped it midway and replaced it with the Conflux, an elemental town first meant for a later expansion (Wikipedia).

The Shadow of Death began shipping in the week of Mar 21, 2000, as a stand-alone game that included the original, with "seven new campaigns, 38 additional maps" (3DO press release, Mar 21, 2000), and combination artifacts. Later in 2000, 3DO put the game and both expansions on one disc as Heroes of Might and Magic III Complete (Complete Edition).

Heroes Chronicles

From Sep 27, 2000 to Jun 1, 2001 New World Computing released eight Heroes Chronicles episodes on a limited version of the Heroes 3 engine: stand-alone campaigns about the immortal barbarian Tarnum, priced low and aimed at newcomers, with no multiplayer. Four were sold on their own, two were free downloads for owners of other episodes, and the last two came together as The Final Chapters; GOG re-released all eight in June 2011 (Wikipedia).

3DO's bankruptcy and Ubisoft

3DO laid off much of New World Computing on Apr 15, 2002, the year Heroes 4 came out (Wikipedia). The 3DO Company filed for Chapter 11 on May 28, 2003, and Ubi Soft was named lead bidder for the Might and Magic assets at $1.3 million (WorthPlaying, Aug 8, 2003); the sale of the franchise for that sum was reported as done ten days later (Rethink Research, Aug 18, 2003). New World Computing ended with its parent. Every Heroes game since has been made for or with Ubisoft, starting with Heroes 5 by Nival in 2006 (Heroes of Might and Magic Series).

The HD Edition (2015)

0:15 Ubisoft's HD Edition, developed by Dotemu, came out on Steam on Jan 29, 2015 and on iOS and Android tablets. Its launch trailer billed "a legendary game" back in HD, subtitled The Restoration of Erathia, with "7 epic campaigns", "8 iconic factions" and "48 scenario maps". It redrew the 1999 game for wide screens but contained only The Restoration of Erathia, without the expansions or the random map generator. Wikipedia and later press say the expansions' source code had been lost; no Ubisoft statement of the time saying so was found. PC Gamer scored it 71: "A great game, unimpressively updated" (PC Gamer, Feb 4, 2015). Ubisoft's own verdict, eleven years later: "improved graphics alone are not enough. Players want access to the complete content experience" (Ubisoft dev blog, Aug 27, 2026).

Ubisoft reinvests: Olden Era and the Remake

"In 2022, we made an important decision. After years of silence, we decided to reinvest in the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise", Ubisoft's Remake team wrote; the decision produced two projects, Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, with new stories and factions, and the Remake (Ubisoft dev blog, Aug 27, 2026). Olden Era, by Unfrozen with Hooded Horse and Ubisoft, entered early access on Apr 30, 2026, and Van Caneghem joined Unfrozen as its creative advisor (Unfrozen, Jan 29, 2026); see Heroes 3 vs Olden Era.

0:20 Ubisoft revealed the Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake at Gamescom Opening Night Live on Aug 25, 2026: the original and both expansions rebuilt in 3D in the Snowdrop engine, "developed by Ubisoft China studios in Chengdu and Shanghai", with Ubisoft Paris and Montpellier as associate studios, for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Ubisoft+ in 2027 (Ubisoft press release, Aug 26, 2026). The same day the original Complete Edition came to Steam for the first time, at first with a placeholder file that Ubisoft fixed within about a day (Ubisoft on Steam, Aug 27, 2026). Ubisoft says the Remake "is not intended to replace the original game" (dev blog, Aug 27, 2026), and it has given no release date beyond 2027, as of Oct 21, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Who made Heroes of Might and Magic 3? Heroes of Might and Magic 3 was developed by New World Computing, the studio founded by Jon Van Caneghem, with David Mullich leading the development team, and was published by The 3DO Company in 1999.

Who composed the Heroes 3 music? The music of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 was composed by Paul Romero with Rob King and Steve Baca, the series' composers; GameSpot praised its orchestral town themes in 1999.

Who owns Heroes of Might and Magic 3 now? Ubisoft owns Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and the whole Might and Magic franchise, which it bought from the bankrupt 3DO Company in 2003 for $1.3 million.

When was Heroes 3 released? Heroes of Might and Magic 3: The Restoration of Erathia came out for Windows on Feb 28, 1999 in North America and Apr 1, 1999 in Europe; Armageddon's Blade followed on Sep 29, 1999 and The Shadow of Death on Mar 21, 2000.

Why does the Heroes 3 HD Edition lack the expansions? The 2015 HD Edition of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 contains only the base game; Wikipedia and later press say the expansions' source code had been lost, though no Ubisoft statement saying so was found.

Is Jon Van Caneghem working on the Heroes 3 Remake? No announcement says so: Jon Van Caneghem joined Unfrozen as a creative advisor on Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era in January 2026, while the Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake is made by Ubisoft's Chengdu and Shanghai studios.

Sources

• Heroes of Might and Magic III Review, GameSpot, Greg Kasavin, Mar 1, 1999
• Heroes of Might and Magic III: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, Tom Ono, Prima Publishing, 1999 (p.2)
• 3DO Expands Heroes of Might and Magic III ... Hits Stores Today, The 3DO Company, Sep 29, 1999
• 3DO Ships Heroes of Might and Magic III for Macintosh, The 3DO Company, Dec 21, 1999
• 3DO Ships Heroes III: The Shadow of Death For PC, The 3DO Company, Mar 21, 2000
• Ubi Soft going for 3DO's Might and Magic, WorthPlaying, Aug 8, 2003
• 3DO assets split between Microsoft, Ubisoft and Namco, Rethink Research, Aug 18, 2003
• Heroes of Might & Magic III HD review, PC Gamer, Feb 4, 2015
• Heroes of Might & Magic III - HD Edition, Steam, read Oct 21, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic III Complete, Ubisoft, read Oct 21, 2026
• Ubisoft Reveals Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake at Gamescom, Ubisoft via Games Press, Aug 26, 2026
• Welcome Back to Erathia (dev blog), Ubisoft on Steam, Aug 27, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic III is returning to Steam!, Ubisoft on Steam, Aug 27, 2026
• Jon Van Caneghem teams up with Unfrozen, Unfrozen, Jan 29, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic III, Wikipedia, revision of Oct 19, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade, Wikipedia, revision of Oct 4, 2026
• Heroes Chronicles, Wikipedia, revision of Oct 8, 2026
• New World Computing, Wikipedia, revision of Oct 2, 2026
• Jon Van Caneghem, Wikipedia, revision of Aug 31, 2026
• David Mullich, Wikipedia, revision of Sep 30, 2026
• Paul Anthony Romero, Wikipedia, revision of Oct 19, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, Wikipedia, revision of Oct 5, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake - Gameplay Overview Trailer, Ubisoft, Aug 26, 2026 (video)
• Launch Trailer - Might & Magic Heroes III HD Edition, Ubisoft, Jan 30, 2015 (video)