Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia (1999) is a turn-based strategy game, the third in the Heroes of Might and Magic series. It was developed by New World Computing, then a division of The 3DO Company, and published by 3DO[1][1]. It came out for Windows in North America on 28 February 1999[1][1], followed by a Macintosh version in December 1999[1] and a Linux port by Loki[1], two expansions and the Heroes Chronicles episodes[1][1][1]. Ubisoft, which bought the Might and Magic brand in 2003[1], released an HD Edition in 2015[1]. In Russia, Buka published it as «Герои Меча и Магии III: Возрождение Эрафии»[1].

The game is still played and modified a quarter of a century later. This wiki covers its Armageddon's Blade expansion, the fan add-ons Horn of the Abyss, In the Wake of Gods, ERA and The Succession Wars, the open engine VCMI, and the Heroes III Remake. Current editions are listed on Where to buy Heroes of Might and Magic III.

Development

• Production began in September 1997, with the hiring of David Mullich as director and Gregory Fulton as lead designer[1][1]. 3DO had recently bought New World Computing, and its president Trip Hawkins interviewed Mullich himself[1].
• Fulton was credited as co-designer with studio head Jon Van Caneghem, who kept a veto; he built the creature statistics with Van Caneghem in spreadsheets. Heroes III was the first game he shipped[1][1].
• The schedule was tight, so the team reused the Heroes II engine and spent its effort on upgradeable creatures, an underground level and a reworked magic system[1][1]. Mullich puts the whole project at fourteen months[1], while the Digital Antiquarian's dates (September 1997 to February 1999) give about seventeen[1]; the master disc was ready on 16 February 1999[1], and the game went gold in the US the next day[1].
• Phelan Sykes was art director, with Rebecca Riel as assistant lead. Mullich wanted to move the series from its cartoon look to what he called "extreme fantasy"; a twenty-person art team drew more than 10,000 pieces of artwork[1].
• John Bolton was lead programmer, with David Richey on the map editor, Jeff Leggett on multiplayer and Gus Smedstad on the AI. Jennifer Bullard led six level designers[1].
• Rob King led audio and composed the music with Paul Romero and Steve Baca[1]. Heroes III may have been the first game to use MP3 audio compression[1].
• The team added a hero named Sir Mullich while the director was away for the birth of his second son[1].

What changed from Heroes II

• Resolution went up from 640×480 to 800×600, and the battlefield roughly doubled[1].
• Eight factions instead of six, every creature upgradeable, and seven army slots instead of five[1][1].
• Optional underground map level, spells grouped into four elemental schools, a personal specialty for every hero, and more secondary skills[1][1].

Releases

A Dreamcast port was in development but was cancelled in 2000[1]; a collector bought a disc of the unfinished build in 2005 and in March 2020 launched a fundraiser to release it[1]. GOG.com sells the Complete edition with both expansions, the 209-page manual and the soundtrack[1], and in 2025 GOG preserved the game on a 5D optical crystal[1].

Setting and story

The game is set on Antagarich, a different continent of Enroth from the one in Heroes II[1]. Its story picks up after Might and Magic VI[1]: Queen Catherine Ironfist, wife of King Roland, sails home to Erathia after the death of her father, King Nicolas Gryphonheart[1][1]. The king has been murdered by traitors and raised as an undead warlord[1]. Might and Magic VII, released three months later, continues the main campaign's story on the same continent[1].

Gameplay

• Eight town types: Castle, Rampart, Tower, Inferno, Necropolis, Dungeon, Stronghold, Fortress[1]. Each has seven creature dwellings, and every creature has an upgraded form[1].
• Sixteen hero classes, a might and a magic class for each town; a player may have eight heroes roaming plus one garrisoned in each town[1]. Over a hundred named heroes are included[1].
• Heroes have four primary skills (Attack, Defense, Power, Knowledge) and may learn up to eight of 28 secondary skills, each at three levels[1]. Maximum spell points are ten times Knowledge[1].
• Spells belong to the schools of Air, Earth, Fire and Water and come in five levels, taught by mage guilds, which in some towns can be built up to the fifth level[1].
• Some maps have an underground level reached through subterranean gates. Obelisks reveal a puzzle map that marks where the Grail is buried[1].
• Battles are fought on a hex grid, with each creature stack shown as one figure[1].

Expansions and episodes

Armageddon's Blade (1999)

Released in North America on 29 September 1999, it added the Conflux town (two hero classes and twelve creatures), six campaigns, over 35 scenarios, ten multiplayer maps, a campaign editor and a random map generator[1]. It reached the UK on 17 March 2000[1] and was Computer Games Magazine's add-on of the year[1].

It was first built around the Forge, a high-tech faction following a storyline set up in Might and Magic VII[1][1]. The Forge was dropped after fans objected; Fulton answered them on 25 May 1999[1], saying fewer than a hundred e-mails had asked for its removal and that a town screen draft and all but one campaign map were finished[1]. In 2026 Archon Studio announced the Forge as an expansion for the Heroes III board game[1]. More: Armageddon's Blade.

The Shadow of Death (2000)

Shipped in North America in the week of 21 March 2000 as a stand-alone edition containing the full game, with seven new campaigns, 38 maps, new artifacts and new combat terrains[1].

Heroes Chronicles (2000)

Low-priced stand-alone episodes following the hero Tarnum[1]. Each retail chapter is a single linear campaign of eight scenarios, starting with Warlords of the Wasteland[1]. GOG.com reissued all eight chapters together in 2011[1].

HD Edition (2015)

DotEmu's remaster came out on 29 January 2015 for Windows, iOS and Android, with widescreen support, seven campaigns and 48 maps[1][1]; the Russian release was the same day[1]. It contains only The Restoration of Erathia: Ubisoft said that when it asked for New World's archives in 2003, the only usable source code was the base game's[1]. It also lacked the random map generator, and launch-week players reported bugs[1]. Metacritic averages are 65 on PC and 73 on iOS[1]; PC Gamer gave 71[1] and Igromania 4.5 out of 10[1].

Reception

• It entered PC Data's US weekly chart at number three[1]. 3DO cited a Computer Gaming World Editors' Choice and top scores from Computer Games Strategy Plus and CNET Gamecenter[1], and PC Gamer readers voted it into their all-time top 50[1].
• It was a finalist for strategy game of the year at the Computer Games Awards[1] and at the third Interactive Achievement Awards, which Age of Empires II won[1].
• No reliable sales figure has been published. 3DO said the series had sold 1.5 million units by December 1999[1]; Jimmy Maher estimates two to three million for Heroes III alone and calls it the most successful game New World and 3DO made[1].
• Ubisoft markets it as the most popular Heroes title[1]; Mullich calls it arguably one of the most popular turn-based strategy games ever[1].

In Russia

• Buka's jewel-case release appeared on 17 March 1999. Buka paid 3DO twenty cents a copy, priced the disc close to pirate copies, and sold about half a million over the following years[1].
• Absolute Games gave it 90% in March 1999[1]. Its readers voted it best strategy of 1999 (the editors put Jagged Alliance 2 first)[1] and best strategy of the century (the editors chose Civilization)[1]. Igromania's 2010 retrospective gave 9.5/10 and called it the "golden mean" of the series[1].
• The game was especially popular in Russia, where it even found a place in e-sports leagues[1]; loading.bar ties its popularity in Eastern Europe to localisation, piracy and hot-seat play[1]. Cybersport.ru calls it one of the most important turn-based strategy games in history[1].

Community and legacy

• Horn of the Abyss: a non-commercial add-on to The Shadow of Death, developed by the HotA Crew since 2007; its first version came out on 31 December 2011[1][1][1]. Its founder Docent Picolan died in 2020[1]. Version 1.8.0 added the Bulwark town[1]. As of 2021 most competitive games were played on HotA, typically on the Jebus Cross template[1].
• HD Mod by baratorch lets the original game run at any resolution above 800×600[1]; its author is a member of the HotA Crew[1].
• In the Wake of Gods and the ERA platform built on it[1], which also runs The Succession Wars, a total conversion recreating Heroes II[1].
• VCMI: an open-source reimplementation of the engine that runs on desktop and mobile systems with the original data files[1].
• PC Gamer published a hands-on with Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Remake on 26 August 2026[1]. See Heroes III Remake.