Farewell, Heroes of Newerth

It’s a sad moment in the gaming community as one of the biggest Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games Heroes of Newerth (HON) has officially closed its gates.

HON team announced back on December 14, 2021, that they’ve decided to shut down the game on June 20, 2022.

The game was launched back in 2010 along with other MOBA games. The 2010s was the decade dominated by the MOBA genre. For more than a decade, HON competed with Defense of the Ancients 2 (DOTA2) and League of Legends (LOL). Unfortunately, only the latter two still are standing strong.

Who killed the Heroes?

HON beta was launched in the same month as LOL. Because of similar mechanics, players are expecting a rivalry between the two games. However, the beta test of HON was not wildly received.

The main issue with HON was its difficulty. Veteran DOTA or WarCraft 3 players were able to keep up with the game’s mechanics but not the newbies. LOL was an easier game to play which is why it gain more players.

Its putrid gaming community was the other concern for its failure. Since HON is more difficult to play than LOL, new players couldn’t keep up with the veterans. The veterans tend to talk trash with newer players which leads them to quit early.

HON didn’t get enough momentum on its launch. LOL and DOTA2 started as “free-to-play” games which made them wildly accessible. HON on the other hand had a $30 price tag that went down to $10 a few months after. It became free a year after its launch but it was a bit late as many players had already gone to their competitors.

Heroes’ Final Message

The loyal fans stayed till the very last as they paid tributes and farewell messages to the game and its developers. They played one last time hours before the server shutdown. Players from different MOBA games also sent their regards to other HON players.

HON developer, Frostburn studio (S2 games was the original developer) gave a final message to thank all of its players.

“Heroes of Newerth (HoN) has been in service for a long time. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has been on this journey, created special memories together with us, moved HoN forward, and created a lot of unforgettable stories for HoN, as well as making Heroes of Newerth become one of the most popular MOBA games in history.”