Ubisoft launches Heroes of Might and Magic III Complete Edition on Steam but forgets to include the game

Ubisoft has finally brought the original Heroes of Might and Magic III Complete Edition to Steam, but it is off to a rather cold start. It appears someone fat-fingered the launch and forgot to include an essential part of any game — the actual files. Multiple buyers report that the newly released version doesn't include the actual game.

All you get is a 23 KB file called Heroes3.exe, which opens a command prompt that, obviously, does nothing other than display "dummy executable on screen". This is like copying only the shortcuts from a game folder to a floppy and thinking you grabbed the entire game. Fun times. Reports are consistent across multiple users with very short recorded playtimes, suggesting this isn't simply an isolated installation failure. And the worst part is, anyone who didn't read the review could actually buy Heroes of Might and Magic III Complete Edition only to be greeted with a 23 KB dud. 

At the time of writing, Ubisoft's Steam store page for Heroes of Might and Magic III Complete Edition still advertises the full original game and both expansions, but it should ideally be fixed soon. Unlike the existing 2015 HD Edition, the new $9.99 listing that went up on August 25 is the original 1999 release bundled with both Armageddon's Blade and The Shadow of Death expansions.

Of course, this listing has nothing to do with Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake, a new version of the game developed in Ubisoft's Snowdrop engine, complete with 3D environments, free camera control, both original expansions, simultaneous turns, improved matchmaking, and other modernisations. That version will launch on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2027.