My deep-down reaction when I first heard about Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era was, "What're ya doin'?" Does anybody really want a hex-based strategy game these days, particularly one whose glory days ended 20 years ago? Well, as it turns out, the answer is a resounding "yes," as publisher Hooded Horse announced that the game sold more than 250,000 copies in its first day of early access. That's a big number, but it's not the only impressive stat: 91% of the more than 3,500 user reviews on Steam are positive, adding up to a "very positive" overall rating, and it hit a peak concurrent player count of nearly 52,000 on Steam. Those are Helldivers 2 numbers, baby. HoMM:OE is also riding high on Steam's top-selling games chart. Over 250,000 copies sold in less than 24 hours. 91% positive reviews on Steam. Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has had an incredible launch. We're so thrilled that players are loving this game as much as we've loved publishing it. 💛 Congratulations to the @unfrozenofficial.bsky.social team! "We are still over the moon and cannot thank you enough for believing in us and our project!" Hooded Horse and developer Unfrozen wrote in a Steam update. "This is a childhood dream come true for the whole team and we promise to use this opportunity you've given us to the best of our abilities!" From a more practical perspective, the strong start means the game has already recouped its development costs, a vital achievement for an early access game with more development ahead of it. I should probably clarify that I didn't expect Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era to be a bad game, and it's clearly quite the opposite. PC Gamer strategy pro Fraser Brown declared when it launched that HoMM:OE "isn't a reimagining or a divisive reinterpretation, it's just a brilliant strategy game," adding that even though it's only just kicked off in early access, "it's already great." What I clearly underestimated was the level of demand for a game that's so en