In May 2010, after about a year of closed and open beta testing, developer S2 Games launched Heroes of Newerth. The fantasy action-RTS was clearly influenced by Defense of the Ancients but also had a number of new features and graphics improvements compared to the Warcraft III mod. Heroes of Newerth quickly generated a large fan base and in 2011 it turned into a free-to-play game with microtransactions.
This week, S2 Games introduced the game"s 100th Hero unit, Kinesis. To mark the occasion, we got a chance to ask S2 Games some questions about Kinesis in particular and about Heroes of Newerth"s current and future plans in general. We were provided answers to our questions from Brad Bower, S2 Games" Director of Operations and Pu Liu, its Director of Sales and Creative Design
First, its been nearly two years since Heroes of Newerth officially launched. How does S2 Games feel about the game"s reception, especially with a large number of competitors already out on in the works?
Brad - We are extremely happy with where Heroes of Newerth is right now. After nearly two years and 100 heroes, HoN continues to grow. This has been due, in large part, to the reception of HoN. It has been outstanding and our dedicated player base continues to spread the word of HoN’s addicting gameplay to their friends.
Can you give us an update on how many people have bought the game outright, how many players join per day and what is the highest concurrent number of players you have had so far?
Brad - Prior to making the switch to free-to-play, HoN had sold over 500,000 accounts. That growth has continued in ways we could only imagine as over 20,000 new accounts are being created every day. We have over 450,000 active daily players and over 1,500,000 total active players. We are ecstatic to say that our highest concurrent number of players is consistently hitting new highs and we most recently broke 85,000 concurrently!
We know that S2 Games have had to deal with hacker attacks in the nearly two years since the game was launched. What has the development team done to keep the game operational and secure from these cyber attacks?
Brad - Because we operate HoN as a service, we take security very seriously. We want our players to know that whenever they are in the mood to play HoN, it is available and safe for them every time. When these attacks started last year, we worked non-stop to put an end to them and we are completely committed to improving our infrastructure to prevent these attacks in the future.
You are celebrating the launch of the 100th hero in Heroes of Neweth. First, how does the development team start creating a new Hero for the game?
Pu - Every hero starts with a spark - a visualization of an awesome play-style that would fit into HoN. Then we take that play-style concept and flesh it out with abilities that make the hero both thematically and mechanically coherent. After weeks of intensive concept and balance iterations both internally and through our test clients, the hero is ready for release.
How hard is it to make the new hero units fun to play while also keeping the game balanced for new and long time players?
Pu - It is always a challenge to inject new, exciting, and innovative play-styles and mechanics into the game while minimizing the burden of knowledge on new and veteran players alike. I think we do a great job of keeping things fresh while maintaining boundaries. One mantra that we truly believe is that a unique play-style is the ultimate goal. While an ability may be somewhat similar to an existing skill on another hero, it is the mix of abilities on each hero that help shape entirely different play-styles.
How did the idea for Kinesis come about and what is your favorite aspect of the hero?
Pu - The idea for Kinesis actually came from sources outside of the design team. At S2, we blur departmental lines and allow everyone to get passionate about and contribute to everything. A couple of guys pitched this awesome idea to our design staff, and we were off and running with an amazing concept. My favorite aspect of the hero is that he picks things up... and then puts them down.
What hints can you give us about upcoming hero units for Heroes of Newerth?
Pu - Two words: Heavy Weapons.
What other content upgrades can players expect for the game in the coming months? Is the team going to do a massive update like they did with Heroes of Neweth 2.0?
Brad - We have a lot of awesome content in the pipeline as we speak. From gameplay content in the form of new heroes and items, to reworks of our existing content, there is a little something for everyone. We are working on interface optimizations to keep the game running on lower end systems and we are very excited to show everyone how bots will be making their debut in the coming months! Everyone here is having a blast creating new content each and every day and we are anxious to get it into the hands of the community.
S2 Games was also hiring to develop an all new game. Can you give us any hints at all about this game and its development?
Pu - We have nothing to comment at this time.
Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about Heroes of Newerth on this special occasion?
Brad - We want to sincerely thank our community for their support of HoN over the past 100 heroes. It inspires us every day to see so many passionate individuals play our game and we could not ask for any better motivation. We look forward to updating HoN with more content that keeps our fans just as entertained as they were when they first stepped into Newerth!