This is a list of multiplayer online battle arena games, sorted chronologically. Information regarding date of release, developer, platform, setting and notability is provided when available.
Year | Game | Developer | Platform | Free-to-play | Still playable | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | Herzog Zwei | Technosoft | Sega Genesis | No | No | Herzog Zwei has been cited as an inspiration to the developers of Warcraft , StarCraft , Dune II , and Command & Conquer [1] [2] [3] and is also considered a precursor to the MOBA genre. [4] [5] |
2002 | Future Cop: LAPD | EA Redwood Shores | PlayStation, Windows, Mac OS | No | No | Future Cop: LAPD is well known for inspiring MOBA games like DotA and League of Legends . [6] [7] |
2003 | Defense of the Ancients | Eul, Guinsoo, IceFrog | Windows, Mac | See Notes | Yes | Custom map that requires installation of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos or Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne . |
2008 | Minions | Casual Collective | Browser | Yes | Yes | |
2009 | Avalon Heroes | WeMade Entertainment | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | Officially shut down on February 8, 2013. |
2009 | Demigod | Gas Powered Games | Windows | No | Yes | First commercial game inspired by DotA. [8] |
2009 | League of Legends | Riot Games | Windows, Mac | Yes | Yes | |
2010 | Heroes of Newerth | S2 Games, Frostburn Studios | Windows, Mac, Linux | Yes | Discontinued | Became free to play in July 2011. Servers shut down June 19, 2022. [9] Garena bought the rights of the game from S2 in May 2015 and founded Frostburn Studios to maintain it. |
2010 | Monday Night Combat | Uber Entertainment | Windows, Xbox 360 | No | Yes | |
2010 | Realm of the Titans | Ningbo Shengguang Tianyi | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | Discontinued in all regions except China. |
2011 | Bloodline Champions | Stunlock Studios | Windows | Yes | Yes | |
2011 | Rise of Immortals: Battle for Graxia | Petroglyph Games | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | Officially shut down since June 2013. [10] |
2012 | Awesomenauts | Ronimo Games | Windows, Mac, Linux, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One | Yes | Yes | 2D sidescrolling MOBA game. |
2012 | Guardians of Middle-earth | Monolith Productions | Xbox 360, PS3, Windows | No | Yes | Game based around The Lord of the Rings film series . [11] No longer available on PlayStation Store and Steam. [12] [13] |
2012 | Super Monday Night Combat | Uber Entertainment | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | |
2012 | Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes | Mythic Entertainment | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | Officially shut down on March 29, 2013. [14] |
2013 | Dota 2 | Valve | Windows, Mac, Linux [15] | Yes | Yes | Sequel to Defense of the Ancients. [16] |
2013 | Panzar | Panzar Studio | Windows | Yes | Yes | |
2014 | Adventure Time: Battle Party | Cartoon Network | Browser | Yes | Discontinued | MOBA based on popular TV series, Adventure Time. [17] |
2014 | Dawngate | Waystone Games | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | Officially shut down since March 2015. [18] |
2014 | Fates Forever | Hammer and Chisel | iOS | Yes | Discontinued | Officially shut down since October 2015. |
2014 | Prime World | Nival | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | Shut down on March 31, 2021. [19] |
2014 | Vainglory | Super Evil Megacorp | iOS, Android, Windows | Yes | Yes | Announced in November 2014 |
2014 | Smite | Hi-Rez Studios | Windows, Xbox One, PS4 | Yes | Yes | MOBA based around different cultures spiritual entities and in over-the-shoulder Third Person perspective. [20] |
2015 | Heroes of the Storm | Blizzard Entertainment | Windows, Mac | Yes | Yes | The game brings various Blizzard characters together as playable heroes, as well as different battlegrounds based on Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, and Overwatch universes. |
2015 | Infinite Crisis | Turbine, Inc. | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | Officially shut down as of August 14, 2015. [21] |
2015 | Sins of a Dark Age | Ironclad Games | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | |
2015 | Strife | S2 Games | Windows, Mac, Linux | Yes | Discontinued | Released May 22, 2015. Servers became inaccessible in September 2018. |
2015 | Arena of Fate | Crytek Black Sea | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | Last known state was Closed Beta in 2016. The developers were purchased by SEGA in 2017. |
2015 | Wangzhe Rongyao | Timi Studio Group | iOS, Android | Yes | Yes | Released November 26, 2015. Released internationally in 2017 as Arena of Valor . |
2016 | Paragon | Epic Games | Windows, PlayStation 4 | Yes | Discontinued | MOBA in third person perspective. Servers shut down on April 26, 2018. [22] |
2016 | Warhammer 40,000: Dark Nexus Arena | Whitebox Interactive | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | Officially shut down on March 31, 2016. |
2016 | Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | Moonton | iOS, Android | Yes | Yes | Released July 14, 2016. |
2017 | Star Wars: Force Arena | Netmarble | iOS, Android | Yes | Discontinued | Released January 12, 2017. In-app purchases disabled as of December 19, 2018. No longer accepting new players as of January 17, 2019, and servers were permanently shut down on March 18, 2019. [23] |
2017 | Arena of Valor | Timi Studio Group | iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch [24] | Yes | Yes | Released August 10, 2017. |
2017 | Battlerite | Stunlock Studios | Windows | Yes | Yes | Released November 8, 2017. |
2017 | Gigantic | Motiga | Windows, Xbox One | Yes | Discontinued | The game focuses on team-based action combat in a third-person perspective with heroes battling alongside a massive guardian. Officially shut down on July 31, 2018. [25] |
2017 | Master X Master | NCSOFT | Windows | Yes | Discontinued | Officially shut down January 31, 2018. |
2018 | AirMech | Carbon Games | Windows, Google Chrome | Yes | Yes | Inspired by Herzog Zwei . |
2019 | Marvel Super War | NetEase | iOS, Android | Yes | Yes | |
2020 | Bleeding Edge | Ninja Theory | Windows, Xbox One | No | Yes | Team brawler video game. Ninja Theory announced that there would no longer be any content updates, but the game is still playable on Xbox and PC. [26] |
2020 | Eternal Return | Nimble Neuron | Windows | Yes | Yes | MOBA with battle royale mechanics. |
2020 | League of Legends: Wild Rift | Riot Games | iOS, Android, consoles | Yes | Yes | Modified version of League of Legends for mobile and consoles. |
2021 | Pokémon Unite | Timi Studio Group | iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch | Yes | Yes | Pokémon themed MOBA developed in partnership with Tencent Games |
Valve Corporation, also known as Valve Software, is an American video game developer, publisher, and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the developer of the software distribution platform Steam and the game franchises Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, and Dota.
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to play. The term "real-time strategy" was coined by Brett Sperry to market Dune II in the early 1990s.
Source is a 3D game engine developed by Valve. It debuted as the successor to GoldSrc in 2004 with the releases of Half-Life: Source, Counter-Strike: Source, and Half-Life 2. It is most well-known for its usage by Valve, but the engine has been used both by small teams and individuals to create modifications of Valve games, and other studios creating distinct games, notably Troika Games' title Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. Valve continued to create incremental updates to the Source engine after its 2004 release, most of which coincided with games created by Valve. In the late 2010s, Valve created the Source 2 engine to replace Source, with it publicly debuting alongside Half-Life: Alyx. The Source engine is most well-known for its advancements in physics, AI, and graphics.
Herzog Zwei is a real-time strategy video game developed by Technosoft and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. An early real-time strategy game, it predates the genre-popularizing Dune II. It was released first in Japan in 1989 and worldwide in 1990. It is the sequel to Herzog, which was available on the Japanese MSX and PC-8801 personal computers.
Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002) and its expansion, The Frozen Throne. The objective of the game is for each team to destroy their opponents' Ancient, a heavily guarded structure at the opposing corner of the map. Players use powerful units known as heroes, and are assisted by allied teammates and AI-controlled fighters. As in role-playing games, players level up their heroes and use gold to buy equipment during the game.
Dota 2 is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Dota 2 is played in matches between two teams of five players, with each team occupying and defending their own separate base on the map. Each of the ten players independently controls a powerful character known as a "hero" that all have unique abilities and differing styles of play. During a match players collect experience points and items for their heroes to defeat the opposing team's heroes in player versus player combat. A team wins by being the first to destroy the other team's "Ancient", a large structure located within their base.
Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that improve over the course of a game and which contribute to the team's overall strategy. The typical objective is for each team to destroy their opponents' main structure, located at the opposite corner of the battlefield. In some MOBA games, the objective can be defeating every player on the enemy team. Players are assisted by computer-controlled units that periodically spawn in groups and march forward along set paths toward their enemy's base, which is heavily guarded by defensive structures. This type of multiplayer online video games originated as a subgenre of real-time strategy, though MOBA players usually do not construct buildings or units. Moreover, there are examples of MOBA games that are not considered real-time strategy games, such as Smite (2014), and Paragon. The genre is seen as a fusion of real-time strategy, role-playing and action games.
The International (TI) is an annual esports world championship for the five-on-five video game Dota 2. Produced by the game's developer Valve, the International is the final event of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) and consists of 20 teams: 12 based on final results from the DPC; six from North America, South America, Southeast Asia, China, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe regional leagues; and two from last-chance qualifiers. The International was first held at Gamescom in 2011 to promote the game's release. It was then held annually in Seattle, where Valve is headquartered, until it began to be hosted internationally again starting with The International 2018.
AirMech is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Carbon Games for Windows, with Android and VR version in the works. Originally released onto Steam's early access program in November 2012 as the game was fully released in March 2018 under the name AirMech Strike, and additionally released a version on the Xbox 360, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 under the name AirMech Arena.
Strife was a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed by S2 Games. This is S2 Games' second MOBA game aimed to a more casual player base than Heroes of Newerth, most notably incorporating various gameplay elements that focus on heavily reducing player toxicity and introducing persistent mechanics outside of the arena, including Pets and Crafting. The game uses an engine called Kodiak which is based on the Heroes of Newerth with some improvements on lighting and physics.
Source 2 is a video game engine developed by Valve. The engine was announced in 2015 as the successor to the original Source engine, with the first game to use it, Dota 2, being ported from Source that same year. Other Valve games, such as Artifact, Dota Underlords, Half-Life: Alyx, and Counter-Strike 2, have been produced with the engine.
Paragon was a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Epic Games, powered by their own Unreal Engine 4. The game started buy-to-play early access in March 2016, and then launched free-to-play access to its open beta started in August 2016. After failed attempts to make the game sustainable and having trouble keeping a player base, Epic Games made the decision to shut down Paragon servers in April 2018.
The International 2016 (TI6) was the sixth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 esports championship tournament. Hosted by Valve Corporation, the game's developer, the tournament began in June 2016 with the qualifier phase and ended after the main event at the KeyArena in Seattle in August. The tournament awarded the biggest prize pool in esports history at over $20 million, surpassing the record set at the previous International, with the champion team, Wings Gaming, winning over $9 million.
The International 2017 (TI7) was the seventh iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 esports world championship tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament began with the online qualifier phase in June 2017, and ended after the main event at the KeyArena in Seattle in August. The Grand Finals took place between the European-based Team Liquid and Chinese-based Newbee, with Liquid defeating Newbee 3–0 in a best-of-five series, winning nearly $11 million in prize money.
The International 2018 (TI8) was the eighth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, TI8 followed a year-long series of tournaments awarding qualifying points, known as the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), with the top eight ranking teams being directly invited to the tournament. In addition, ten more teams earned invites through qualifiers that were held in June 2018, with the group stage and main event played at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver in August. The best-of-five grand finals took place between OG and PSG.LGD, with OG winning the series 3–2. Their victory was considered a Cinderella and underdog success story, as they had come from the open qualifiers and were not favored to win throughout the competition.
The International 2019 (TI9) was the ninth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament followed a year-long series of awarding qualifying points, known as the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), with the top 12 ranking teams being directly invited to the tournament, which took place in August 2019 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. In addition, six more teams earned invites through regional qualifiers played in July 2019. The grand finals took place between Team Liquid and OG, who had respectively won the International's 2017 and 2018 events. There, OG defeated Team Liquid 3–1 in the best-of-five series to become the first-ever repeat champion of an International.
Dota is a series of strategy video games. The series began in 2003 with the release of Defense of the Ancients (DotA), a fan-developed multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, The Frozen Throne. The original mod features gameplay centered around two teams of up to five players who assume control of individual characters called "heroes", which must coordinate to destroy the enemy's central base structure called an "Ancient", to win the game. Ownership and development of DotA were passed on multiple times since its initial release until Valve hired the mod's lead designer IceFrog and after an ongoing legal dispute with Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of Warcraft III, brokered a deal that allowed for Valve to inherit the trademark to the Dota name.
The International 2021, also known as The International 10 (TI10), was the tenth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament followed a year-long series of tournaments awarding qualifying points, known as the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), with the top 12 ranking teams being directly invited to the tournament. In addition, six more teams earned invites through regional qualifiers held earlier in 2021. The tournament took place in Bucharest, Romania, with the main event held behind closed doors at the Arena Națională due to restrictions on gatherings in the city.
The International 2022 was the 11th iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports tournament hosted by Valve, the game's developer. The tournament followed the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), an annual series of tournaments awarding points to teams, with the top 12 earning invitations and a further eight earning them by a series of qualifying playoffs.
Herzog Zwei was a lot of fun, but I have to say the other inspiration for Dune II was the Mac software interface. The whole design/interface dynamics of mouse clicking and selecting desktop items got me thinking, 'Why not allow the same inside the game environment? Why not a context-sensitive playfield? To hell with all these hot keys, to hell with keyboard as the primary means of manipulating the game!
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