HEROES OF NEWERTH CELEBRATES OPEN BETA/COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH WITH NORTH AMERICAN BETA CUP FINALS
Team “Loaded” Victorious in Blistering Finals Match
(Kalamazoo, MI) – April 7, 2010 – Independent game developer S2 Games today announced that Heroes of Newerth (HoN) is nearing official launch. The S2 Games team celebrated this huge milestone with a launch event late last week, at which the finals were held for the HoN North American Cup. The two semi finalist teams, “Loaded” and “Five,” both battled feverishly, but team “Loaded” ended up taking the win. The event and finals were held at the SupperClub in San Francisco and sponsors included Alienware, Razer and Iron Will Innovations, makers of the Peregrine Glove. Video from the event, including the finals match, can be found at http://www.honcast.com.
HoN quietly slipped into Open Beta late in the evening on March 31, 2010, just prior to the celebration. Since then the number of registered players has grown by 250,000 to a whopping two million active beta accounts and reaching concurrent player numbers surpassing 55,000. The team at S2 Games will continue to monitor servers and growth in order to ensure complete stability. Players will be introduced to NEW Heroes during Open Beta and rewarded with additional Heroes upon the games transition to retail.
“After working on this game for over three years it feels incredible to finally be at this point,” said Marc DeForest, CEO and Founder, S2 Games. “I have an amazing team that worked tirelessly to make HoN the best online, multiplayer game of its kind and it’s a real sense of accomplishment to hear the positive feedback from our fans as well as from the competitive gaming and e-sports communities.”
HoN, a session-based, multiplayer, Action-RPG, is heavily inspired by the popular Warcraft 3 mod, Defense of the Ancients (DotA), but with vast improvements in graphics and gameplay. Heroes of Newerth is available for the Windows, MAC and Linux platforms for $30.00 (USD). Gamers can currently “try before they buy” by accessing the open beta at http://www.heroesofnewerth.com
About HoN:
In Heroes of Newerth, two teams of up to five players each take on the role of special Hero units. With the assistance of AI-controlled armies, each team sets out with the sole objective of destroying the other team’s base. As a match progresses, players can earn experience and gold which can be used to upgrade skills or purchase items to make their character more powerful. The team-oriented design of HoN coupled with unprecedented in-game Voice-Over-IP controls and Clan Support allow for an incredibly deep, tactical team-based experience.
Some of the unique features of HoN include the following:
· Dozens of playable Hero characters, over 100 items as well as regular content updates to ensure no two games of HoN will ever be the same.
· Client/Server Architecture eliminates lag, cheats and map hacking
· Quick reconnect feature allows players to jump right back into their game should they get disconnected
· In-game VOIP for fast and easy communication with teammates
· Game archives and replay support for all games played on official servers (players can rewind, slow down, fast forward, and otherwise pinpoint the exact part of a match that they wish to view)
· Built upon the proprietary K2 engine to deliver enhanced graphics while maintaining low system specs
· Powerful map editor and mod capabilities
· Available in six language translations: English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Russian.
· Available for PC, Mac, and Linux
Heroes of Newerth is currently in open beta and release can be expected very soon. Players can visit the website to be notified of future release dates. www.heroesofnewerth.com. More information on this title can also be found at www. s2games.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/heroesofnewerth.
About S2 Games
The core S2 Games team is an experienced group of developers from diverse backgrounds, including film, fine art, computer science and business. Through this mix of skill and experience, a synergy is born creating a fresh perspective in game design. The mission of the S2 Games team is to create the next level of multiplayer gaming. With the creation of the K2™ Engine, they have the freedom to take online multiplayer games to heights not reached before. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.s2games.com.
