Mission accomplished for Might and Magic petition

[UPDATE] Turn-based strategy game quietly delayed as fan uproar over open beta test coalesces into online petition.

Angry gamers have been banding together to form online petitions for years, typically because they want to see a favorite franchise continued, or a new game localized and released in their own territory. That line of thinking is being flipped on its head this week, as a group of dedicated Heroes of Might and Magic gamers are petitioning to keep the latest game in the series from being released--for now, at least.

Publisher Ubisoft began its open beta period for Heroes of Might and Magic V earlier this week, and it didn't take long for a group of disappointed testers to coordinate efforts and launch a Web site to get the game delayed from its planned March release date.

"All of the undersigned wish to see Heroes of Might and Magic [V] as the title that reinvents the series, the title that brings glory back to the Heroes of Might and Magic name," the petition reads. "All wish to see more releases in this new world that Ubisoft has created for Might and Magic. However, we also feel that, should you release the game on its currently scheduled release date, all of our dreams will be shattered. Pushing back the release date even one month will provide many benefits, most of which will in turn equate to increased long-term profits for Ubisoft, and increased longevity for the Heroes series."

Little did the petitioners know that the project had already been delayed. An Ubisoft representative told GameSpot today that the company had pushed Heroes of Might and Magic V out of the March release window before the beta test even went live. However, the only public indication of this was the game's quiet absence from the company's list of releases planned for the current quarter, which ends March 31. A revised release date for the game is expected next week.

[UPDATE] The Ubisoft representative has since contacted GameSpot, emphasizing that the game's delay was not known about before the launch of the beta testing period.

26 Comments

  • Pete5506

    Posted Oct 23, 2007 6:27 pm PT

    ok

  • SmArTaLeC1321

    Posted Oct 23, 2007 1:56 pm PT

    O_O!!!

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jan 30, 2006 6:09 am PT

    ummmm.....ok.

  • ewjim

    Posted Jan 30, 2006 1:30 am PT

    Not good...

  • Noijo

    Posted Jan 28, 2006 10:28 pm PT

    I would like to congratulate the members of this website. The last thing we need is more half done games to be released. I know its not 100% the developers fault and that the publishers need to take on some of the blame in pushing games out the door before they are ready to make a profit off of them. But wouldn't you do better if you release the game when it is ready and one that is complete and tested, than you will from releasing a game that is not ready and bad word of mouth, game magazine previews less than decent, plus the online sites and communities that will drive the game in the dirt, all of which will decrease your chance to even sell the game.

    I've been one to play Heroes of Might & Magic 1, 2, and 3. While I didn't play #4 (too many hours stuck in MMO's). I'd really like to check out this game and rekindle some of those found memories of my first few computer system that included a 386 SX 25MHz, 486 DX 100MHz, and a original Pentium 100MHz. I beleive my max memory at this time as 32MB of SDRAM.

  • SimuLord

    Posted Jan 28, 2006 10:07 pm PT

    Now hopefully they'll get their act together before release date. I'd hate to see the game come out, be a buggy piece of crap, and end up a big money-loser which makes Ubisoft a bigger target for EA.

  • metalmario_64

    Posted Jan 28, 2006 5:20 pm PT

    disappointing, but necessary...

  • FuriousFerrari6

    Posted Jan 28, 2006 2:02 pm PT

    It's a good sign, if nothing else. I think that they will push it back.

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 11:41 pm PT

    interesting........

  • mayatola

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 10:24 pm PT

    Whew, that's good news.

  • Goze

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 8:38 pm PT

    It was obvious from the CLOSED beta test (which was the time around 3 months prior to the OPEN beta test) that Ubi/Nival was very behind schedule. For all of the closed beta testers, this was no big surprise at all... They've been missing deadlines for a while now. Petitioners or no petitioners, it wouldn't have made a different, although I do appreciate their efforts...

  • Kahones

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 7:49 pm PT

    Score one for the gamers?

  • MrFlint

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 6:30 pm PT

    Why i get the feeling that its the typical Publisher (Ubisoft) vs Developer (Nival) fight?
    I truly hope that Ubisoft will show some business sense and will let Nival to FINISH the game.

  • Collaborator

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 4:38 pm PT

    The whole reason for the petition was that if the game was released on the original release date, it was going to be a terrible, broken, unfinished game. Heroes fans want a fun quality game, and thus they wanted to give the developer more time to finish it. Waiting for a good game is better than playing a terrible one.

  • XlpranksterlX

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 4:37 pm PT

    Well now they have to wait more for their game. Their choice.

  • ZeTecThreaT

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 3:00 pm PT

    The people spoke and UBISOFT listened.Thats a first.

  • Krypton36

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 2:40 pm PT

    Was it or was it not because of the petition? The update at the bottom says that the delay was not known of before the beta.

  • LordOfMidnight

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 2:17 pm PT

    Never seen anything like this before! Usually it's the other way around although, and I agree, the companies are so huge now I don't think they care what we say anymore.

  • lstr

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 2:02 pm PT

    Whether it had to do with the petition or not, it's good news. Now if only this would happen for DDO...

  • tyger_claw

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 1:50 pm PT

    That's quite the misleading headline....

    ...the petition had nothing to do with it. It was just coincidence that it happened

  • TTS_Fusion

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 1:40 pm PT

    And the M&M fans will just have to keep waiting... Now were's my Guitar Hero?

  • Donkeljohn Site moderator

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 1:36 pm PT

    Interesting turn of events. Perhaps I should start a petition to keep games from being released. . .

  • biobug

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 1:32 pm PT

    wtheck i dont get this at all ... i think ive been bamboozled?

  • FFman

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 1:03 pm PT

    I think that big companies like Ubisoft know what they are doing and there is no need making petitions to tell them what to do.

  • lazynerd

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 12:59 pm PT

    Publishers could probably give a crap about what we have to say. The petitioners just got lucky in this regard.

  • Dirty_old_bum

    Posted Jan 27, 2006 12:48 pm PT

    ok........ so the petition really did nothing, just like every other online petition.

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