<s>
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
(	O
HoN	O
)	O
was	O
a	O
multiplayer	O
online	O
battle	O
arena	O
(	O
MOBA	O
)	O
video	O
game	O
originally	O
developed	O
by	O
S2	O
Games	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
idea	O
was	O
derived	O
from	O
the	O
Warcraft	B-Application
III	I-Application
:	I-Application
The	I-Application
Frozen	I-Application
Throne	I-Application
custom	O
map	O
Defense	B-Operating_System
of	I-Operating_System
the	I-Operating_System
Ancients	I-Operating_System
and	O
was	O
S2	O
Games	O
 '	O
first	O
MOBA	O
title	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
5	O
,	O
2015	O
,	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
development	O
duties	O
passed	O
to	O
Frostburn	B-Application
Studios	I-Application
,	O
with	O
the	O
development	O
team	O
moving	O
over	O
to	O
the	O
new	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
pits	O
two	O
teams	O
of	O
players	O
against	O
each	O
other	O
:	O
the	O
Legion	O
and	O
the	O
Hellbourne	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2009	O
,	O
associate	O
game	O
designer	O
Alan	O
"	O
Idejder	O
"	O
Cacciamani	O
claimed	O
that	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
had	O
been	O
in	O
development	O
for	O
"	O
34	O
months	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
first	O
13	O
were	O
spent	O
on	O
engine	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
game	O
mechanics	O
and	O
many	O
heroes	O
in	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
are	O
heavily	O
based	O
on	O
Defense	B-Operating_System
of	I-Operating_System
the	I-Operating_System
Ancients	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
additions	O
that	O
differentiate	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
from	O
Defense	B-Operating_System
of	I-Operating_System
the	I-Operating_System
Ancients	I-Operating_System
are	O
features	O
independent	O
from	O
gameplay	O
;	O
such	O
as	O
tracking	O
of	O
individual	O
statistics	O
,	O
in-game	O
voice	B-Application
communication	I-Application
,	O
GUI-streamlined	O
hero	O
selection	O
,	O
game	O
reconnection	O
,	O
match	O
making	O
,	O
player	O
banlists	O
,	O
penalties	O
for	O
leaving	O
and	O
chat	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
was	O
in	O
beta	O
from	O
April	O
24	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
until	O
May	O
12	O
,	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
S2	O
Games	O
used	O
a	O
Facebook	B-Application
fan	O
page	O
and	O
word	O
of	O
mouth	O
to	O
attract	O
players	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
August	O
22	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
the	O
pre-sale	O
of	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
began	O
for	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
closed	O
beta	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Open	O
beta	O
testing	O
for	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
began	O
on	O
March	O
31	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
and	O
ran	O
until	O
May	O
12	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
S2	O
Games	O
released	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
2.0	O
on	O
December	O
13	O
,	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
S2	O
Games	O
released	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
as	O
a	O
free-to-play	O
game	O
on	O
July	O
29	O
,	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2012	O
,	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
was	O
hacked	O
with	O
over	O
8	O
million	O
accounts	O
being	O
breached	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hack	O
was	O
announced	O
by	O
the	O
perpetrator	O
themself	O
on	O
Reddit	B-Application
with	O
S2	O
Games	O
later	O
confirming	O
the	O
breach	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
1	O
,	O
2013	O
,	O
S2	O
Games	O
released	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
3.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
5	O
,	O
2015	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
announced	O
that	O
Garena	B-Application
had	O
acquired	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
from	O
S2	O
Games	O
,	O
and	O
established	O
FrostBurn	B-Application
Studios	I-Application
to	O
handle	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
previous	O
S2	O
Games	O
staff	O
members	O
who	O
help	O
develop	O
and	O
maintain	O
the	O
game	O
were	O
subsequently	O
employed	O
by	O
the	O
new	O
FrostBurn	B-Application
studios	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
6	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
Frostburn	B-Application
Studios	I-Application
released	O
the	O
HoN	O
64-Bit	O
Client	O
,	O
that	O
should	O
result	O
in	O
a	O
much	O
more	O
stable	O
experience	O
for	O
those	O
on	O
the	O
Latest	O
Windows	O
(	O
10	O
)	O
,	O
most	O
notably	O
faster	O
FPS	O
,	O
and	O
reduced	O
loading	O
times	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
February	O
9	O
,	O
2021	O
,	O
a	O
macOS	B-Operating_System
64-Bit	O
Universal	O
client	O
was	O
announced	O
to	O
be	O
getting	O
into	O
closed	O
beta	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
has	O
received	O
generally	O
positive	O
reviews	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
score	O
of	O
76	O
out	O
of	O
100	O
from	O
Metacritic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
became	O
free-to-play	O
on	O
July	O
29	O
,	O
2011	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
had	O
accumulated	O
over	O
526,000	O
paid	O
accounts	O
with	O
460,000	O
unique	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
mid-2013	O
,	O
Heroes	B-Application
of	I-Application
Newerth	I-Application
was	O
the	O
third	O
most	O
played	O
game	O
in	O
internet	O
cafés	O
in	O
the	O
Philippines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Laura	O
Baker	O
,	O
the	O
director	O
of	O
marketing	O
for	O
S2	O
Games	O
,	O
stated	O
that	O
both	O
the	O
"	O
Mac	O
and	O
Linux	B-Application
clients	O
have	O
done	O
well	O
for	O
us.	O
"	O
</s>
