As part of the Might and Magic franchise, the series changed ownership when NWC was acquired by 3DO and again when 3DO closed down and sold the rights to Ubisoft.

This would change with the sixth through eighth Might and Magic games, which were also set on Enroth and featured storylines overlapping or connecting with the first three Heroes titles.

The titular heroes are player characters who can recruit armies, move around the map, capture resources, and engage in combat.

The heroes also incorporate some role-playing game elements; they possess a set of statistics that confer bonuses to an army, artifacts that enhance their powers, and knowledge of magical spells that can be used to attack enemies or produce strategic benefits.

Town alignment also determines other unique traits such as native hero classes, special bonuses or abilities, and leanings toward certain skills or kinds of magic.

As construction progresses, increasing amounts of secondary resources such as wood, ore, gems, crystals, sulfur, and mercury are required.

At the start of each week (each day in Heroes IV), creature dwellings produce new recruits, and in most cases neutral armies will increase in size (by default; can be turned off if desired).

Whenever a player engages in battle, the game changes from the adventure map display to a combat screen, which is based on either a hexagonal or square grid.

In this mode, the game mimics the turn-based tactics genre, as the engaged armies must carry through the battle without the opportunity to reinforce or gracefully retreat.

With few exceptions, combat must end with the losing army deserting, being destroyed, or paying a heavy price in gold to surrender.

Heroes participate in battle as well: passively by granting bonuses to their army, and actively by engaging in combat and casting spells.

Heroes I and II take place on the planet of Enroth, on a northerly continent of the same name, and chronicle the adventures of the Ironfist dynasty.

The protagonist of Heroes I is Lord Morglin Ironfist, a knight originally from the world of Varn (the setting of Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum), who discovers a portal to the realm of Enroth while fleeing from his throne's usurpers and goes on to conquer and dominate the continent, establishing a unified kingdom and a new royal family.

Heroes II featured a two-sided conflict between Morglin's sons, Roland and Archibald, both vying for their deceased father's throne.

Canonically, the good-natured Roland defeats the evil Archibald, though the player can choose to align themself with either side and experience either outcome.

In Heroes III, Queen Catherine Gryphonheart, King Roland Ironfist's wife, is called home to attend her father's funeral, only to discover Antagarich being torn apart by various factions.

The events preceding Heroes IV precipitated the destruction of the planet Enroth due to a clash between Armageddon's Blade and the Sword of Frost.

Heroes IV's campaigns focus on the scattered survivors from Enroth and Antagarich as they form new kingdoms and alliances in the new world.

Its six campaigns are each centered around a faction leader, tied together by the character of Isabel Greyhound, Queen of the Holy Griffin Empire.