Ubisoft accidentally released a Steam version of Heroes of Might & Magic 3 that doesn't actually include the game, meaning buyers who finalized payment didn't receive any game files.
The original 1999 edition of the strategy classic, complete with its two expansions, was finally promised on Steam in a Gamescom 2026 announcement. Instead of receiving the game, as anyone would expect after buying it, users received a 23.49 KB file that throws a "dummy executable" error when launched. The same error was reported several times in the reviews section on the Steam listing.
Understandably, the scam hasn't boded well for buyers, resulting in review bombing that has brought the game down to an 80% negative rating. Fans are pointing to GOG's Complete Edition as the only working version, currently on sale.
Following these reports from buyers, Ubisoft has issued an official response in a reply from the official Heroes of Might & Magic 3 X account.
"Thank you to everyone who brought this to our attention. We investigated the issue and can confirm it has now been resolved. We appreciate the community's patience and reports while we worked on a fix and apologise for any inconvenience caused," wrote the X Might and Magic X account
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Which Steam buyers were affected by the missing Heroes of Might & Magic 3 files — anyone who purchased at launch or only certain purchasers?
What exactly did users receive instead of the game files when they downloaded the Steam release?
How did Ubisoft respond publicly after reports of the dummy executable and missing files?
Has Ubisoft confirmed whether the Steam listing now contains the full Heroes of Might & Magic 3 files?
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While it is great to see a swift response from Ubisoft, unfortunately, the damage has already been done to those players. It would be great to see the Might and Magic X account provide the impacted buyers with additional compensation in the form of a unique in-game cosmetic or title, etc, as simply resolving the issue for future buyers doesn't rectify what was experienced by Heroes of Might & Magic 3's most passionate fans - the fans that purchased the game as soon as it was available.
