New World Computing, Inc. was a computer game development company founded in 1984 by Jon Van Caneghem and Marc Caldwell, best known for its work on the Might and Magic RPG series and its spin-offs, especially Heroes of Might and Magic. The company was bought by The 3DO Company in 1996. In 2003, with 3DO becoming bankrupt, New World Computing disappeared as well. Ubisoft Entertainment bought the rights to Might and Magic in 2003.
Might and Magic[]
Originally, New World Computing was created to publish Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum for the Apple II. In 1988, New World Computing released Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World, which pushed the Apple II to its max. In 1992, New World Computing released its first game developed on the IBM PC, Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra. With Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen and Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen, released for the IBM PC in 1992 and 1993 respectively, New World Computing did something that really hasn't been done before or since. If you had both games on your hard drive, then you opened up a whole new world between that bridges the two game worlds: World of Xeen. After a pause of five years, New World returned to the Might and Magic series with Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, their first 3D graphics RPG. Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor, Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer and Might and Magic IX followed between 1999 and 2002.
Heroes of Might and Magic[]
In 1995, 1996, and 1999, New World released Heroes of Might and Magic I, Heroes of Might and Magic II, and Heroes of Might and Magic III. The fourth game followed in 2002. New World also developed a PlayStation 2 version, a 3D remake of their older game King's Bounty.
Other games[]
Early logo
In 1989, New World Computing developed the satirical game Nuclear War, which wasn't very successful, but notable as a departure from RPGs.
In 1990, the company released King's Bounty for the Apple II and it was later ported to the Sega Genesis. This game is notable because it is the forerunner to the Heroes of Might and Magic series.
In 1991, they released Planet's Edge: The Point of No Return whose premise is that Earth vanished from the Universe after a failed first contact with an alien civilization which set the last remaining humans who were stationed in a base on the moon during the incident to prepare a crew and a spaceship to depart on a quest to bring Earth back from wherever it went, the game combines the gameplay of space exploration from Starflight (and its most famous remake Star Control 2 albeit one year before) with ship and crew management as well as interactions and space battles with alien species and the gameplay of ground exploration from Ultima with more interactions with alien environments and species and tactical battles. Planet's Edge might or might not be the start of the elusive Empire of the Ancients from the Might and Magic series since Planet's Edge tells the adventures of humans from Earth who first explored space beyond their home world and the Ancients are always pictured as space-faring humans who might or might not be related.
Anyway, in 1994, they released Zephyr which was a racing and vehicular combat video-game whose premise was that greedy private corporations fought each other to claim ownership of planets' resources until regulated competitions as in mediatized arena games were instated into which the rival corporations sponsored pilots of spaceships called Zephyrs into battle races where the pilots could either win the race or eliminate all of their rivals just like in ancient roman chars races then the winner pilot's sponsoring corporation gets to claim ownership of the planet onto which their pilot defeated the other corporations' pilots, the game was confusing to play because the arenas were brimming with ships flying in all directions and mixing together as they were sprites without actual physical existence however its cutscenes were very entertaining to watch, which is a strong point that New World Computing improved even further the next year.
Indeed, in 1995, they released Wetlands which is a sci-fi rail-shooter whose cutscenes featuring hand-drawn and animated characters into 3D modeled environments are impressive and whose premise is that humankind finally succeeded into wasting Earth where life is no more possible at the surface which drove most of humankind to withdraw into underwater cities into the oceans while their elite abandoned their wasted home world, colonized new planets, and forged an interplanetary federation then an imprisoned scientist gets broken out of jail by some terrorists and you are the mercenary hired by the Federation to retrieve him however things are never as they seem...
New World Computing also published Anvil of Dawn made by DreamForge Intertainment in 1995 which is so close to World of Xeen that it could be "a Might and Magic horror game". Indeed, Anvil of Dawn's game mechanics and style are very close to World of Xeen albeit its style is weirder and creepier. It evolved from World of Xeen by introducing a detailed full 3D world including its inhabitants as opposite to World of Xeen whose world was empty and its inhabitants appeared only on dialogue screens without actually existing in the game world, Anvil of Dawn fixed this "haunted world" feeling by actually including characters into the game world and not only in dialogue screens. Even though Anvil of Dawn's world has evolved into actual 3D, its inhabitants are still 2D sprites sharing the same colorful visual style with World of Xeen even if its enemies are nightmarish. Instead of creating our party of heroes from the start, we have to choose our character among 5 possible characters then we will meet and recruit the 4 other characters who we did not choose to be during the story. Anvil of Dawn is fully voiced and even the 5 playable characters feature their own voiced-dialogues. The gameplay is dual hands as left click is used for left hand and right click is used for right hand, allowing to use both hands at the same time for example one hand which strikes with a weapon while the other hand casts a spell. The game features a minimap showing the content of near tiles and we have to acquire smallest bags in order to sort our big bag inventory by categories of items and equipments. The combat gameplay features both a turn-based or real-time modes and striking at the same time as the enemy parries their hits. To sum it all up, Anvil of Dawn is an unofficial Might and Magic horror game, evolved from World of Xeen, published by New World Computing, and made by DreamForge Intertainment who simultaneously made Chronomaster then later made Sanitarium, two extra-ordinary adventure point and click games irrelevant to New World Computing and Might and Magic but still interesting on their own regard.
Might and Magic Games by New World Computing[]
- 1986
- 1988
- 1991
- 1992
- 1993
- 1994
- 1995
- 1996
- 1997
- 1998
- 1999
- 2000
- Heroes Chronicles: Clash of the Dragons
- Heroes Chronicles: Conquest of the Underworld
- Heroes Chronicles: Masters of the Elements
- Heroes Chronicles: Warlords of the Wasteland
- Heroes of Might and Magic III: Double Pack
- Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Shadow of Death
- Heroes of Might and Magic Trilogy
- Heroes of Might and Magic III: Complete (Collector's Edition)
- Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer
- 2001
- 2002
- 2003