Heroes of Newerth (May 12, 2010 – June 20, 2022)
Genre: MOBA | Developer: S2 Games | Platforms: PC, Mac | Payment model: Buy2Play (later Free2Play)
What kind of game was it? The core principle of Heroes of Newerth with its champions, lanes, and towers is virtually identical to LoL and DOTA 2. However, it offered several differences in the details:
- You could deny opponents gold and experience by killing your own minions and towers. This is referred to by the English term “Denial”.
- The MOBA was released as a full-price title. In exchange, all champions were unlocked right from the start. Later, they also switched to Free2Play.
- The game was significantly darker than colorful LoL.
Overall, the game was considered much more complex and demanding than LoL and was therefore positively received by fans in the beginning.
What did it fail at? At release, Heroes of Newerth was described as the “best DOTA clone on the market”. Although it had fewer players due to the price barrier, players who wanted more depth in LoL were very interested.
In 2011, the game transitioned to a Free2Play model and experienced a “small boom.” However, this was not enough, especially since LoL was simply better in terms of beginner-friendliness.
For the HoN fans, the switch to Free2Play had negative consequences. New champions were released that were far too strong. These champions also had to be purchased separately – even by those players who had previously paid the full price for Heroes of Newerth. This did not sit well with the community.
In mid-2012, SMITE and especially DOTA 2 were released. Both titles eclipsed Heroes of Newerth, causing the game to be put into maintenance mode in 2019 and completely shut down in 2022.
What are the best memories? The most iconic match for me is the duel between KDe and tXL at Dreamhack 2010. Back then, KDe had to complete the entire “Best of Three” with one player less. They played in a 4v5 and even managed to win matches 2 and 3.
The final third match was incredibly close with 27 to 28 kills:
Are there alternatives or successors? In the article, we have already mentioned several alternatives. The largest are LoL and DOTA 2. SMITE has a different style and is played in third-person, but it is also a successful MOBA.
Additionally, a remake of Paragon was recently released:
In 2018, a popular MOBA died – a new developer brings it back to Steam in 2022
