One of the original MOBA standouts that once rivalled the likes of DOTA 2 and League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, has finally been shuttered. After over 13 years of play, the game has finally succumbed to its dearth of players and will no longer be playable in any form after today, June 20.
Heroes of Newerth, or HoN, was one of the original big players in the MOBA space. Developed by Savage creator, S2, Heroes of Newerth had everything going for it. It was riding the MOBA wave at its nascent stage and had a unique universe of characters to exploit, some interesting mechanics, and the bones of a solid MOBA map and gameplay experience. But it wasn't quite as streamlined, quite as intuitive, and quite as visually clear cut as LoL, the original DotA mod, and DotA 2 when it later appeared.
HoN held on for a while, but went free to play in 2011 to try to compete, but was solid multiple times throughout the 2010s as its player base slowly declined. It managed to outlast its developer's sequel, STRIFE, which itself closed down in 2018, but HoN has now finally fallen for the last time and will no longer be playable after today.
"Even though the journey of HoN has come to an end, we believe that all the valuable memories of our players through all these years will never fade away," the studio said, in a post on its official Facebook.
To say goodbye, a bunch of final events were held with special rewards for players, but the game has now finally ended its days.
Do you have any fond memories of playing HoN?