It’s this physical version of the game that has caused some serious controversy as users who forked out for the collector’s edition in North America were disappointed to find that the North American version of CE does not actually include a CD/DVD version of Heroes of Might and Magic 7 as advertised (though European players do seem to have gotten a physical copy). Instead, wrote one reddit user, “buyers have to issue tickets to Ubisoft to have the game activated on their account”.
This has led Might and Magic fans to accuse Ubisoft of ‘deceptive’ marketing, as the Ubisoft-released image of the Heroes of Might and Magic 7 Collector’s Edition (as visible above) clearly shows a boxed copy of the game, with the box having the PC DVD logo emblazoned on it. Even Ubisoft’s Twitch unboxing of the CE showed a physical disc. One buyer of the CE also noted that the “box was shipped loose in packaging. Lid was off and contents were spilling out when opened. There is a clearly empty spot where the DVD is intended to fit”. The company is also alleged to have changed the online description of the CE so that it said “PC download” and then using this listing as a reason to refuse refunds.
Responding the criticism from Might and Magic fans, Ubisoft has released the following statement:
Additionally, Ubisoft is also offering a full refund to those who purchased the CE, along with a free digital version of one of their games either: Far Cry 4, The Crew, Assassin’s Creed Rogue, Toy Soldiers: War Chest Hall of Fame Edition, or Zombi. However, it’s important to note that this offer is only available to those who bought the Heroes of Might and Magic 7 Collector’s Edition directly from Ubisoft’s Uplay Shop.
While Ubisoft definitely isn’t the first publisher to do this (Konami was recently criticized for offering Metal Gear Solid V PC discs that only featured Steam installers), the apology and the courtesy game but fans seem to have gone a long way.
Though, there are other issues with Heroes of Might and Magic 7, not just the collector’s edition. Fans of the series, along with several reviews of the game, note that the game suffers from serious bugs such as a ‘wild’ camera, as well disappearing heroes, and some have also reported odd performance issues, with at least some of those performance problems down to Ubisoft’s Uplay overlay and its attempts to run on top of the Steam interface. It’s currently unclear whether Ubisoft plans to address these criticisms too.
Sources: Geek, Imgur, reddit, GameSpot
