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Heroes of Newerth (HoN in short) is getting a soft reboot with HoN Reborn, an official remake of the game from Kongor Studios LLC (populated by some of its original creators). For new players not familiar with the history of the genre, HoN was the third-biggest second-generation MOBA when the scene took off. It has forever been overshadowed statistically by LoL and Dota 2, the twin lasting pillars of the genre.
After a 12-year run, the official support for the original Heroes of Newerth was terminated in 2022 as S2 Games pulled the plug. Developed by the original creators themselves, this remake will carry the torch in a new chapter for the formerly dead MOBA.
Is Heroes of Newerth Reborn a new game?
Theoretically, yes, Heroes of Newerth Reborn is a new game. It is no longer supported by the current-day S2 Games — Singaporean publisher Garena currently has the ownership of the HoN franchise IP.
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Outside of this technicality, one could consider Heroes of Newerth Reborn a big update to the 2022 version of HoN (and the currently unofficial Project Kongor) in practice. A lot of the game has been remade from scratch on the new proprietary iGames Engine, but it strictly follows the art direction of the original. Under the hood, the systems remain the same, as do the 80+ original heroes of HoN's roster.
In that way, HoN Reborn is comparable to the similarly named Dota 2 Reborn, a 2015 patch that ported the game over to the Source 2 engine.
Will Heroes of Newerth Reborn be free-to-play?
On its public release, Heroes of Newerth will be a fully free-to-play title. The original HoN adopted a buy-to-play model — a mistake often touted as the main reason for its failure to overtake LoL or Dota. With this relaunch, the old developers in the new company are not repeating that mistake.
Is Heroes of Newerth Reborn coming to Steam?
Rather than going on Steam or Epic Games, HoN Reborn will be playable on the somewhat obscure iGames Launcher, an accessibility concern that worries us. Available on PC, this proprietary launcher is currently a platform to create and crowdfund community projects.
Funnily enough, Heroes of Newerth Reborn itself is one of these crowdfunded projects. To get a running start with this relaunch of the beloved MOBA, the developers are planning to let the community chip in through the Genesis Campaign, a multiple-tier founders' support package that gives you some exclusive cosmetics.
Does Heroes of Newerth Rebirth have a release date yet?
HoN Reborn has no concrete release date at the moment. Kongor Studios announced the game on January 28, 2025, but no roadmap for a closed or open playable build has been revealed yet.
Leaving Dota 2 out of the equation, Heroes of Newerth was arguably the spiritual successor of the original Dota. As such, due to many similar heroes and mechanics, a lateral entry into this upcoming game won't be hard for Dota 2 players. As we mentioned before, we don't know when HoN Reborn will be released, but you can play the original one via Project Kongor right now.
