[5][6] Set in both modern day Earth and the parallel world of Embra, Heroes possessing magical powers wake up and are pulled into a dark realm and centuries old battle.

Long before humans ever walked the Earth, cultures fueled by magic rose to greatness and fell to ruin on Embra over its millennia of history, destroying once grand civilizations and their achievements.

After millennia spent in unchallenged peace and prosperity, the pacifist scholars and artists of the Radiant Empires were no match for the arrival of an enemy that knew only war.

Though much about them remained shrouded in mystery, these foul invaders - the Shadow Legions - drove the Radiant Empires from their strongholds and toppled their cities.

On Embra, the command of arcane force is infinite and the Radiant Empires have recruited strong young men and women to fight the Shadow Legions for almost a hundred years.

[citation needed] Four-player teams combated a fifth-player Shadowlord who controlled creatures, set traps, and changed the environment.

[11] Shadow Realms was being developed by BioWare's Austin studio and was to have run on DICE's Frostbite 3 engine so that it may target Windows XP users.

It was only being developed for Microsoft Windows, but BioWare Austin's general manager Jeff Hickman stated that the game may have been released on consoles if it was successful on PC and fans called for it.

[3] But on February 9, 2015, BioWare announced the game's cancellation to work on content for Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda.

[5] Shadow Realms received positive pre-release reception, with reviewers praising the game's customization options, tactics, and mix of magic and weapons in combat.