Might & Magic

Might and Magic is a fantasy role-playing video game franchise created by Jon Van Caneghem? and originally developed by New World Computing?, spanning first-person party-based role-playing games, the Heroes of Might and Magic? strategy series, and numerous spin-offs.¹³ The first game, Might and Magic: Book One – The Secret of the Inner Sanctum, was released in 1986, and by 1999 the brand had sold well over four million units worldwide across its universe and been translated into more than twelve languages.¹³

Van Caneghem founded New World Computing in 1983 as a one-man effort from his apartment in Hollywood, California, and developed the first game there.¹ He came to computer role-playing games from a background in board games and pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, wanting to play “more often and faster” than his Saturday tabletop sessions allowed.¹ Van Caneghem has recalled that his passion for math, combined with his knowledge of games, drove his ambition when he was first introduced to computer games.¹ Unlike its established contemporaries Wizardry and Ultima — the two series alongside which Might and Magic came to be counted among the three most recognized role-playing franchises — the first game let the player explore not just dungeons but the entire large overworld in first-person view, and this immersive freedom of exploration remained a defining feature of the series.¹ The original Might and Magic was later inducted into the Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame, credited to New World Computing and dated 1986.¹⁰

At its peak New World Computing employed over 100 people.¹ The company grew large enough that in 1996 Van Caneghem sold it to The 3DO Company? so that he could focus on creative rather than business matters, after which New World Computing operated as a division of 3DO.¹³

The main role-playing line ran from the first game through Might and Magic IX, with the New World Computing universe of Enroth serving as the backdrop for Might & Magic I–IX and Heroes of Might & Magic I–IV.¹⁵ The series drew on high-fantasy conventions ultimately rooted in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, which players and commentators identify as a major influence on the franchise.²² Ubisoft has described the RPGs as being about “a party of adventurers exploring a large world in first-person view, meeting a variety of characters, visiting cities, and of course exploring dungeons and fighting monsters in turn-based combat”.⁵

Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer, shipped to North American retail on March 2, 1999 by The 3DO Company, brought an all-new widescreen interface, mouse-look, and the ability to play “dark” creatures such as a troll, minotaur, necromancer, or dragon, in a story spanning the lands of Enroth, Erathia, and the new continent of Jadame.³ The game let the player choose allies from over 32 characters and pursue a path of good or evil that affected the game experience, and it added over 60 new monsters alongside its dozens of quests and sub-quests.³ It was supported by contemporary 3D audio and visual technologies, including Direct3D and EAX.³

Spin-offs and the strategy branch

The most successful offshoot, Heroes of Might and Magic?, launched in 1995 as a spin-off of the main series and shifted from first-person dungeon crawling to turn-based tactical strategy, in which players explore a map to gather resources, build and upgrade a castle, recruit faction units, and fight grid-based battles.² The strategy branch was itself begun by Van Caneghem, and the brand also spawned the Crusaders of Might and Magic action games.¹³ By 1999, 3DO’s Might and Magic universe also included forthcoming titles such as Heroes of Might and Magic: The Shadow of Death for PC and a Game Boy Color version of Heroes of Might and Magic.³

Bankruptcy and the Ubisoft era

The 3DO Company filed for bankruptcy in 2003, spelling the end of New World Computing.¹ In the ensuing auction of 3DO’s assets, Ubisoft? confirmed a leading bid of $1.3 million for the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise, while Namco took Street Racing Syndicate — under development at U.K. studio Eutechnyx — for $1.5 million, and Microsoft acquired High Heat Baseball.⁶ Other 3DO asset groups then on sale included the Army Men, Jacked, and Cubix properties.⁶ Van Caneghem himself went on to work at NCSoft and Trion Worlds before Electronic Arts hired him in 2009 as general manager of the Command & Conquer brand.¹

Under Ubisoft the franchise was rebooted with a new continuity, and the publisher continued both the strategy line and the RPGs. Might & Magic X – Legacy, announced at PAX East in 2013 and released January 23, 2014, was developed by Limbic Entertainment? as a first-person, turn-, party- and grid-based dungeon crawler explicitly modeled on World of Xeen and Might & Magic IV and V rather than on open-world contemporaries such as Skyrim?.⁵¹⁶²⁰ Set on the wild peninsula of Agyn, the game had been in development for almost seven months when it was announced, and it drew on the worlds of the Heroes games rather than the original RPG continuity.⁵²⁰ The team cited the Kickstarter-driven “old-school renaissance” and the success of Legend of Grimrock? as proof that an audience existed for such a game, making Ubisoft the first major AAA publisher to venture into old-school RPGs.⁵

On the strategy side, Might & Magic Heroes VI appeared in 2011, followed by Might & Magic Heroes VII on September 29, 2015, with a Trial by Fire expansion released August 4, 2016.¹⁶⁹ In August 2024 Ubisoft announced Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, described as the eighth mainline strategy game and developed by Unfrozen?, the studio behind Iratus: Lord of the Dead.² A prequel to the original Heroes of Might and Magic, it is set on the continent of Jadame in the world of Enroth and draws significant inspiration from the cult classic Heroes of Might and Magic 3, while incorporating elements from the second and fifth titles, according to Ubisoft brand director Eric Damian-Vernet.² The game promised expanded hero customization with faction-specific abilities, artifact sets, a new system for learning skills and magic spells, a story-driven campaign, a random map generator supporting up to eight players, and one-on-one duels, and it was slated to launch in Steam Early Access in the first half of 2025 to mark the franchise’s 30th anniversary.²

The franchise has also expanded into mobile and free-to-play titles, including Might & Magic: Era of Chaos, a real-time tactical strategy RPG published by Ubisoft in which players lead armies under Queen Catherine Ironfist to restore the war-ravaged Kingdom of Erathia, recruiting heroes from across the Might and Magic universe and more than 40 troop types rendered in an anime-inspired 2D art style.¹⁷¹⁸ It held a 4.2-star average across some 94,000 reviews on Google Play as of 2026.¹⁸ Other spin-offs include Might & Magic Heroes Online (2014), Might & Magic Showdown (2017), and Might & Magic: Elemental Guardians (2018).¹⁹ The classic New World Computing RPGs remain available as the Might and Magic 6-pack Limited Edition, preserved DRM-free through GOG’s Preservation Program and holding a 4.7-out-of-5 rating across 218 reviews as of 2026.¹³

Heroes of Might And Magic Olden Era - New Gameplay TrailerUbisoft