After two yeas of lying dormant, Heroes of Newerth, one of the original spin offs of the Defense of the Ancients Warcraft III mod, is returning with Heroes of Newerth: Reborn. Revealed on Jan. 28, with a trailer dropping on IGN’s YouTube and on the official Heroes of Newerth site, HoN: Reborn is being called an enhanced version of the original.

With graphical updates, enhanced features, and a seeming commitment to the original, HoN: Reborn could be the MOBA revival we’ve all be waiting for.

Heroes of Newerth Reborn HoN

Image Credit: Garena/IGN

Heroes of Newerth: Reborn Announced – Classic MOBA Set To Return

Heroes of Newerth, first released in 2010, was the second stand-alone MOBA game released based on the Defense of the Ancients Warcraft III mod. Created by S4 Games, the game’s fidelity in recreating the original mod, coupled with its more complex gameplay made it a runaway success in the early part of the 2010s. However, after a sale to Singaporean gaming company Garena, and dwindling numbers, HoN would shutter its doors on June 20, 2022.

Now, it appears HoN is back, with its new Reborn tag, perhaps a nudge and a wink to the moniker that Dota 2‘s engine update was given. Details are slim, but the game is being developed by Kongor Studios, a spin off of Project KONGOR, a fan-made revival of the original HoN. Backed by HoN rights-holders Garena, the company looks to deliver an upgraded version of the original game.

According to the announcement, Heroes of Newerth: Reborn will feature:

“…Upgrades, enhanced player experience, over 80 heroes available at launch with more planned, improved performance, and more.”

With players such as TI winners Aydin “Insania” Sarkohi, Michael “miCKe” Vu, and Samuel “Boxi” Svahn all getting their start in the game, HoN’s effect on the Dota 2 and the wider esports scene is hard to measure, but it’s certainly significant. It’s definitely exciting to see this title return. Earlier this month, rumors of a potential mobile adaptation of HoN were quashed – and it seems this new announcement is the reason.

Heroes of Newerth Reborn HoN

Image Credit: Garena/IGN

One Small Worry With HoN: Reborn Announcement

However, there is one caveat with announcement of HoN: Reborn, and unfortunately it could be a big one. HoN: Reborn will operate on the iGames platform a “Web 3.0” platform that is supposed to facilitate players owning virtual in-game assets using blockchain technology. iGames utilizes NFT tech to facilitate this, and it looks like potentially the game could be tied to these NFTs.

Beyond this, the developers are seemingly requesting financial backing from fans in the form of early adopter purchases which come with various in-game rewards. No details on these early adopter boons appear to be publicly available, and clicking on the “Support HON: Reborn” link on the website takes you to a rather un-promising iGames page which requests “Public Preview Key” to access.

These elements make it hard to get too excited for the new game, however, hopefully that’s just a healthy dose of cynicism on our part, rather than an omen of things to come.