Cast your mind back to the late 2000s and early 2010s. The humble Warcraft 3 mod Dota has surged in popularity, and the likes of Valve, Riot Games, and Blizzard are in a MOBA arms race to capitalize on it and create a big commercial hit. What emerged were games like, Dota 2, League of Legends, and Heroes of the Storm, and they are looked back upon as the biggest names in that fight. But there was another impressive contender in that battle that often gets overshadowed – Heroes of Newerth. In 2022, the game’s servers were sadly shut down for good, but since the turn of the year, activity has returned to its once dormant social channels, suggesting that some kind of revival is on the cards.
Released pretty much in tandem with League of Legends, which of course continues to sit proudly as one of the biggest and best MOBAs alongside Dota 2, Heroes of Newerth was pretty popular when it first launched. Genuinely giving LoL a run for its money initially, it sadly didn’t manage to keep pace as the 2010s pushed on. A switch to a free-to-play model couldn’t even see it achieve similar results to its genre rivals. However, it still fostered a dedicated community that was big enough to justify regular updates and patches for the best part of a decade.
Initially developed by the now defunct S2 Games before being sold to Arena of Valor and Free Fire publisher Garena, it was supported for a long time and ended up with a roster of 73 playable characters, split between the well-intentioned Legion and the villainous Hellbourne factions.
In 2019, though, its last significant update was released, and then in 2022, its servers were taken offline. HoN is so cherished, though, that it is still playable today thanks to private servers run by its community.
However, Heroes of Newerth might be eyeing up a comeback. Nothing’s confirmed yet, but there are some breadcrumbs to suggest that some kind of revival is approaching.
For a start, HoN’s previously-dormant social accounts came out of hibernation to post a “Happy NEW Year” message, with emphasis on the word ‘new.’ Its website also changed – while there’s no actual content on it right now, its design changed to show a barely visible silhouette of its logo with some embers rising up from the bottom of the screen. Then today, January 6, another new post appeared on Heroes of Newerth socials simply showing a picture of a cracking, fiery egg.
Something’s afoot, that’s for sure. Whether it’s going to be a revival of the original, a modernized remaster, a sequel, or maybe a new game in the HoN universe that isn’t a MOBA, that all remains to be seen. But certainly, Garena looks to be gearing up for something.
There’s definitely still an appetite out there for new MOBAs, if that is indeed what we’re getting. Supervive has shown that with a few twists on the formula, you can create something that will attract the attention of fans of the genre. Valve has also built on its own Dota 2 expertise with Deadlock, which smashes a MOBA together with a hero shooter-style experience. Could a new Heroes of Newerth thrive in the current climate? It’s certainly possible, but it wouldn’t be easy – even with the series’ heritage. I’m extremely interested to see what comes of these teasers, as I’m sure everyone who played HoN back in the day will be too.
Until then, here are some other popular free PC games and multiplayer games that you can get hooked on instead.
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