As Heroes VII development is officially ended and Limbic's contract with Ubisoft expired, we ask: what's next? There are also rumours going around that Erwan le Breton's "M&M team" has been disbanded. The way we see it, there are three general options:
- Ubisoft continue to develop the franchise, publishing games like M&M 11 and another Heroes title, possibly with Erwan le Breton's team, possibly with Limbic as developers, possibly somebody else. I'm honestly not sure if this is the preferred option; with Ubisoft's financial muscle behind the franchise, at least we are assured a continuation. However, I think we can all agree that many of the choices made in recent years have not been good ones and that changes would have to be made.
- Ubisoft sells the franchise to another game producer. Given that fans have been unhappy with several of Ubisoft's strategies, some have argued that it would be better if the whole thing was handed over to somebody else. The hope, then, is that the new producers are more dedicated to the wellness of the franchise and develop games of which the fans approve. This, however, is far from guaranteed. Changing producers could make things even worse.
- The franchise is mothballed. No new Might & Magic or Heroes games are made and the world moves on to other things. Just like great games of the past can now be found on abandonia.com or GOG, some of the more well-made games in the series may still be played years or even decades from now. Fans may start to produce high-quality mods and maps, keeping the show somewhat alive, but as time passes by, most of them will move on. This will effectively mean the end, albeit a drawn-out one. As a good friend of mine put it, however: perhaps it is time.
