Heroes of Newerth (HoN) is a DOTA inspired game that has a native GNU/Linux client (some say it’s much more stable than the Windows client).

HoN begun in 2010 when it officially came out, as a pay $30 , play forever (no monthly fee).

At 2011 HoN went free to play, but new players (with the free account) had a limited pool of heroes each week.

Today HoN finally released all it’s heroes (except the “early access”) for free, to everyone !

So now you can enjoy this game as those you payed for it, and play all 100+ (lost count) heroes for free.

Every 3 weeks a new hero is added to the pool.

Warning : this game is highly addictive !

Announcement

Today we have an announcement of epic proportions for the HoN community. On Friday, July 20th, Heroes of Newerth will become Free-to-Own, with all heroes released becoming free for all players. This is a major step forward in the development of HoN and after months of careful consideration and direct input from the HoN community, the time has come to make the HoN gameplay experience open to all users.

We agree with the community that HoN is best played with a full hero pool available to all players and that both the new and the longtime, dedicated players alike can benefit from the change. We want players to have the freedom to invite their friends and to recommend heroes based on playstyle and not a free hero pool. Players will no longer be limited by which heroes they can afford, so when a line-up calls for a certain hero, you can answer the call and focus on what’s important in each game of HoN.

This change is equally important in our mission to revitalize the myriad of game modes in HoN. HoN offers so many other fun twists, options, and strategies outside of All Pick that any passionate fan can attest to. We recognize this and don’t want players to be turned away from these modes due to restriction. With all heroes and game modes, players will have the complete HoN experience at their disposal.

Last, but not least, with this change we seek to have a significant impact on the competitive HoN scene. All players will now be on equal footing during competitive play. As a competitive title, we know this is going to be a beneficial change for the scene and we hope you are as excited as we are. We sincerely appreciate all of your support and dedication over the years and for contributing to the success of Heroes of Newerth. This is our way of paying that commitment forward and taking our game to the next level.

To reward the loyalty of our users, all players who purchased a hero for gold coins will be given an exclusive Mecha Gemini Alt Avatar for free. Legacy players will also receive the exclusive Mecha Gemini, PLUS a very special thank you in the form of the Legacy Bonus which rewards Legacy accounts with an extra two silver coins for every ranked (i.e. non-Mid Wars) matchmaking game they play. We will also be restructuring the pricing in the HoN Store. A majority of items will have a price adjustment making a significant amount of content easier to earn with silver coins. Coupling this with the recent increase in silver coin gain from Match Rewards, you will be able to unlock free content faster than ever!

We would also like to take this opportunity to announce that we are also working on an all new “Gated Mode” that will feature a static hero pool of iconic heroes. Gated Mode will offer the perfect controlled environment for players new and old to hone their skills and familiarize themselves with the HoN gameplay experience.

Both the Free-to-Own hero system and repriced HoN Store will be going live with the patch on Friday, July 20th.

Here’s a very special note from Director of HoN, DivA:

“As part of our continuous efforts to make the HoN gaming experience better, we set out to improve our Free-to-Play rotation and Hero unlocking model. After careful deliberation and tremendous feedback and suggestions from our community, we have come to what we all truly believe to be the best solution for enhancing the HoN experience for every one of our players. We are extremely grateful to all of our dedicated players for helping us take this massive step forward, and look forward to all of you joining us in the celebration of HoN’s natural evolution from Free-to-Play to Free-to-Own. It is an amazing privilege for us to entertain all of you, and with decisions like this we hope to entertain millions more moving forward. Thanks again for all of your support, feedback, and passion. Game HoN!”

Mini-FAQ

Will Early Access continue?

Yes, Early Access will still be available in the HoN Store.

Will I continue to receive heroes for free after Early Access ends?

After Early Access ends, the hero will be added to the general hero pool and will be available for free to all players.

What will happen to Verified and Basic?

Verified and Basic will continue to be in place to protect against trolling players and players who create multiple accounts. As with before, you must either reach account level 5 or make a purchase in HoN in order for your account to become Verified.

How does the new Legacy Bonus work?

All Legacy accounts will receive two bonus silver coins upon completing a ranked (i.e. non-Mid Wars) matchmaking game.

What happens if I purchased a hero in the past?

On top of now having access to all heroes for free, players will be refunded for hero purchases made since July 5th. Refunds are scheduled to be applied shortly after the patch on July 20th.

How does this benefit me?

All game modes will become available to all players, no tokens or passes required. This means you should see shorter queue times on your favorite modes outside of All Pick. All players will be on a level playing field. HoN is a competitive game and having access to more than 16 heroes is crucial to a fair gaming experience. New players will now have the ability to play heroes and learn how best to utilize their abilities through gameplay, rather than trying to figure it out playing against them. When you invite your friends to play the game, you know that your friend will be able to have the same experience as you.

So what are you waiting for ?! create a HoN account and start playing !