Extract text from Heroes of Newerth data files (HON)
To convert HON game files to another format, you need Heroes of Newerth or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Game Data Container" file type, you need software like Heroes of Newerth or a similar tool.
HON files are proprietary game data and configuration containers used exclusively by the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game Heroes of Newerth. They typically store compiled game assets, hero statistics, internal settings, and save states required by the game's underlying K2 Engine.
The only software natively designed to open, read, and manage these files is the Heroes of Newerth client itself, originally developed by S2 Games and later managed by Frostburn Studios.
Because official servers were shut down in 2022, users frequently need to extract or convert these files to preserve game history, build community mods, or analyze player statistics. However, the .HON format presents severe limitations. It is a closed, proprietary binary format with no official public documentation. It cannot be opened by web browsers, standard text editors, or database managers, and attempting to force it open often results in unreadable characters or file corruption.
The best target formats for extraction are structured data files like JSON, XML, or CSV, which are ideal for data mining. During this conversion, non-textual assets such as proprietary audio or 3D models embedded within the file are usually ignored or permanently lost.
This format is notoriously difficult to open or convert because its compression and data structuring are highly customized. Often, only the original game engine can properly interpret the asset references. If our analysis detects a supported embedded data structure, viewing or converting the contents into modern formats may still be entirely possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your HON file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert HON file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Heroes of Newerth or similar software from the "Game Data Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to HON, try Heroes of Newerth or another comparable tool in the "Game Data Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our HON converter.