Ubisoft Actually Forgot to Include the Game in Its Heroes III Steam Release
🚨 UBISOFT ACTUALLY SOLD A GAME ON STEAM… WITHOUT THE GAME.
Players paid $10 for *Heroes of Might & Magic III Complete* — then downloaded a tiny 23.49 KB file that basically told them: “Dummy executable.” 😭
So… where was the actual game? And how did Ubisoft, one of the biggest publishers in the industry, manage to ship a Steam release with the game files missing?
The funniest part? This happened **right as Ubisoft was celebrating the announcement of a brand-new Heroes III remake.** 💀
The full story — and the ridiculous Steam reaction — is here 👇
Ubisoft Actually Forgot to Include the Game in Its Heroes III Steam Release
For a company with decades of experience publishing PC games, Ubisoft managed to pull off a launch-day mistake that sounds more like a joke than a real software-release failure: it released Heroes of Might & Magic III Complete Edition on Steam without actually including the game.
The classic strategy title arrived on Valve’s storefront August 25 alongside Ubisoft’s announcement of a full Heroes of Might & Magic III remake. But early customers who purchased the $9.99 Complete Edition quickly discovered that something was very wrong.
The download was only about 23.49 KB.
Instead of the legendary turn-based strategy game, players received a tiny executable called Heroes3.exe. Launching it opened a command prompt displaying a message identifying it as a “Dummy executable” and instructing users to make sure they were on the correct Steam branch.
In other words, Ubisoft had apparently published the storefront release before the actual game files were available to customers.
And the timing could hardly have been more awkward.
A Long-Awaited Steam Release Turns Into a Meme
The Steam release was supposed to be a major moment for longtime Heroes of Might & Magic III fans.
The original game, released in 1999, remains one of the most beloved turn-based strategy titles ever made. The new Complete Edition was particularly significant because it brought the original game together with its two major expansions — Armageddon’s Blade and The Shadow of Death.
For years, Steam users had access to the 2015 Heroes of Might & Magic III HD Edition, but that version did not include the two expansions. The Complete Edition therefore offered something longtime fans had traditionally sought elsewhere, particularly on GOG.
Then Ubisoft announced the remake.
During Gamescom Opening Night Live, the publisher revealed Heroes of Might & Magic III Remake, a modern reconstruction of the classic using Ubisoft’s Snowdrop engine. The project is scheduled for 2027 and is planned for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
The remake is intended to retain the original game’s core structure while adding modern visuals, a free 3D camera, dynamic lighting, weather and seasons, multiplayer improvements and support for community-created content. Ubisoft also says both classic expansions will be included.
To celebrate that announcement, Ubisoft simultaneously shadow-dropped the original Complete Edition on Steam.
That should have been an easy nostalgia win.
Instead, players received a 23.49 KB placeholder.
“Dummy Executable”
The first warning sign was simply the download size.
A 27-year-old strategy game can certainly be relatively small by modern standards. But 23.49 KB is not “old-school PC game” small. It is essentially nothing.
Players quickly began reporting that the installation contained only the executable. When launched, it opened a Windows command prompt instead of the game.
The message was even more revealing:
“Dummy executable. Ensure that you are on the right Steam branch.”
That immediately led some players to conclude that the wrong Steam branch or depot had been made public.
A Steam discussion thread from launch day shows users quickly comparing notes and reaching the same conclusion. One player described the release as apparently using the wrong public branch, while others confirmed they were experiencing the exact same behavior.
This was therefore not simply a player having trouble with an installation.
The problem was apparently on Ubisoft’s side.
Steam Reviews Went Nuclear
As more buyers discovered the issue, the Steam review section became the natural outlet for the frustration — and the humor.
One reviewer described the release as Ubisoft “fat fingering” the launch and including only the 23.4 KB dummy executable.
Another sarcastically described the experience as owning nothing while being happy about it.
Other reviews joked about receiving a command-prompt simulator instead of the legendary strategy game.
The reaction was not limited to Steam.
A Reddit discussion in the PC gaming community quickly attracted thousands of reactions. One of the most popular jokes asked whether Ubisoft was essentially selling “air,” while another compared the experience to paying for fast food and receiving an empty bag.
The humor worked because the mistake was so unusually simple.
Modern game launches can go wrong in countless ways. Servers can collapse. Performance can be terrible. Bugs can corrupt saves. Players can encounter crashes, missing textures or broken quests.
But forgetting to ship the game itself?
That’s considerably harder to explain.
The Problem Was Eventually Fixed
The good news for anyone who actually wanted to play Heroes III is that the incident did not last indefinitely.
Reports indicate Ubisoft corrected the problem later the same day. Approximately 10 to 11 hours after the initial release, a roughly 770 MB update began delivering the missing game files.
Ubisoft also acknowledged the mistake and apologized to players.
So this was not a case where customers paid for a permanently broken product. The actual Complete Edition is now available to download and play.
For customers who purchased the game during the problematic period, however, the initial experience was understandably bizarre.
You bought Heroes of Might & Magic III.
Steam downloaded 23.49 KB.
You clicked the executable.
Windows opened Command Prompt.
And that was apparently your entire $10 purchase.
Why the Mistake Hit a Nerve
The incident is funny on its face, but the broader context explains why it generated so much attention.
Heroes III is not just another old game.
It has an unusually devoted fanbase, and many players have spent decades returning to the original. The game’s formula remains influential: explore a strategic map, collect resources, build towns, recruit armies and fight turn-based battles while developing increasingly powerful heroes.
That audience is also extremely familiar with the difference between a faithful preservation of the original and a modern reinterpretation.
Ubisoft’s 2015 HD Edition already generated frustration because it omitted the two major expansions. The new Complete Edition was therefore welcomed as an opportunity to finally put the definitive classic version on Steam.
Instead, the first thing many customers experienced was a dummy executable.
That is almost tailor-made for internet ridicule.
And Then There’s the Remake
The timing creates another layer to the story.
Ubisoft wasn’t merely releasing an old game.
It was simultaneously asking fans to get excited about a new Heroes III remake.
The remake announcement itself has already produced mixed reactions among longtime fans. Some players are excited to see the classic rebuilt with modern technology, while others are skeptical about moving away from the original’s iconic 2D presentation and visual identity. Early reactions to the reveal included criticism and jokes questioning whether the new version would preserve what made the original special.
That means the missing-files incident landed at precisely the moment Ubisoft needed to build confidence around the franchise’s future.
For many players, the mistake is unlikely to determine whether the remake succeeds.
But it certainly provided ammunition for skepticism.
One poorly configured Steam release does not prove that the remake will be poorly developed. The two products are separate, and the remake is being built from scratch using a modern engine.
Still, first impressions matter.
And “we forgot to upload the game” is an unusually memorable one.
Ubisoft Isn’t the Only Company Trying to Revive Heroes
There is another interesting piece of context.
Ubisoft is currently involved in more than one attempt to revive the franchise.
Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era, developed by Unfrozen, is already in Early Access and offers another modern take on the classic strategy formula. Unlike the III remake, Olden Era is a new entry set hundreds of years before the original games rather than a direct reconstruction of Heroes III.
That game has also received substantially more positive reactions than some of the initial skepticism surrounding its reveal might have suggested. A recent review from GameReactor praised its ability to retain the traditional Heroes formula while adding new systems and factions.
So Ubisoft now has two very different bets on the future of the franchise.
One is a new game trying to evolve the formula.
The other is a remake attempting to modernize perhaps the most beloved entry in the series.
The Steam blunder does not change that strategy, but it does underline how carefully Ubisoft will need to handle the franchise’s unusually passionate audience.
The Meme May Last Longer Than the Bug
Technically, the crisis is already over.
The missing game files were added. The Complete Edition can now be downloaded. Ubisoft apologized. Players can finally play the product they paid for.
But the internet has a long memory.
The original mistake lasted roughly half a day.
The screenshot of a 23.49 KB “game” that opens a command prompt is likely to survive much longer.
For Ubisoft, that may ultimately be the best possible outcome: a spectacularly embarrassing but short-lived technical mistake that does not appear to have caused lasting damage.
For Heroes III fans, meanwhile, the situation has produced an absurd footnote in the game’s already lengthy history.
After 27 years, the legendary strategy game finally arrived on Steam in its Complete Edition.
For a few hours, however, the complete edition was apparently missing one tiny detail.
The actual game.
And somehow, that may be the first thing everyone remembers about its Steam debut.
