King's Bounty is a series of fantasy strategy and role-playing games. It began in 1990 with Jon Van Caneghem's game for New World Computing, the forerunner of Heroes of Might and Magic[1][2], and was revived in 2008[3] by Katauri Interactive and 1C[4].
Games
| Game | Year | Developer | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|---|
| King's Bounty | 1990 | New World Computing | — |
| King's Bounty: The Legend | 2008 | Katauri Interactive | 79[5] |
| King's Bounty: Armored Princess | 2009 | Katauri Interactive | 82[6] |
| King's Bounty: Crossworlds | 2010 | Katauri Interactive | 78[7] |
| King's Bounty: Legions | 2011 | KranX Productions | — |
| King's Bounty: Warriors of the North | 2012 | 1C-SoftClub | 74[8] |
| King's Bounty: Dark Side | 2014 | 1C-SoftClub | 73[9] |
| King's Bounty II | 2021 | 1C Entertainment | 63[10] |
From New World Computing to 1C
- The 1990 game was developed and published by New World Computing, which later created Heroes of Might and Magic[11][1].
- In March 2007 1C announced that Katauri's Battle Lord had been renamed King's Bounty: The Legend[4][12]; Russian press reported that 1C had acquired the rights to the trademark[13][14]. No primary source says from whom; a 2021 Cybersport.ru article claims that the mark was left without an owner after the 2003 bankruptcy of 3DO, which had held it along with Heroes[15].
Katauri Interactive
Katauri was founded in 2004 by former staff of Elemental Games, the makers of Space Rangers, led by Dmitry Gusarov[4][16][15]. Founded in Vladivostok, it later worked from Kaliningrad[15][17]. After The Legend, Armored Princess and Crossworlds it moved on to the online game Royal Quest[18]; Warriors of the North was made by 1C-SoftClub, with Katauri only consulting at the start[19], and Dark Side by 1C-SoftClub alone[20].
King's Bounty: Legions
A free[21] turn-based strategy game for Facebook, built on Unity — developed by KranX Productions rather than Katauri and published by Nival under licence from 1C[22]. The open beta began on 9 August 2011[21]; it was the first game in the series with player-versus-player battles[21]. It won the best game for social networks award at KRI 2011[23] and came to Steam on 10 December 2013[24]. The server was shut down on 8 July 2022[25].
Today
In 2022 1C Entertainment, by then owned by Tencent, became Fulqrum Games[26]; Fulqrum Publishing holds the King's Bounty II trademark[27]. In June 2026, for The Legend's 18th anniversary, the game received an update with Steam Workshop support and achievements[28], and the free soundtrack and artbook add-ons The Music of King's Bounty and The Art of King's Bounty covering the 2008–2014 games[29][30]. The games from The Legend onwards are sold digitally — see where to buy the King's Bounty games.