What is considered a MOBA game? An In-Depth Expert Guide

As both a longtime gaming enthusiast and professional data analyst on the cutting edge of the industry, I‘ve developed a deep fascination and expertise around the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll provide insider knowledge and data-driven insights to help you understand what defines a MOBA, trace the growth trajectory of these ultra-popular team strategy games, and get started in playing them yourself. Let‘s dive in!

The Rise of MOBAs from Cult Hit to Global Phenomenon

The origin of MOBAs stems from a custom game mode called "Defense of the Ancients" (DotA) that was created in 2003 using the World Editor tools in Blizzard‘s classic RTS game Warcraft III. DotA was conceived and originally developed by Kyle Sommer, who goes by the online handle Eul, as well as subsequent contributors like Steve Feak, aka Guinsoo.

DotA gained an ardent player base amongst Warcraft III fans by blending RTS, RPG, and action elements into a fresh competitive multiplayer experience. Players took control of a single powerful "hero" unit and teamed up to destroy the enemy‘s "Ancient". The game was maintained and expanded through various iterations under an open source model.

By 2009, DotA had become a worldwide cult hit with hundreds of thousands of active players and major tournaments. Seeing this grassroots success, Riot Games would release League of Legends later that year as the first standalone MOBA title to fully capitalize on the concept. Their game adapted and expanded the DotA formula while providing dedicated servers and full professional support.

League of Legends exploded in popularity over the following years, amassing over 100 million monthly players worldwide by 2016. Its success proved the mainstream appeal of MOBAs as a competitive esport. Dota 2 soon arrived in 2013 as Valve‘s own polished successor to the original DotA mod, competing directly with League of Legends.

Numerous other MOBAs have since followed including Smite, Heroes of the Storm, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Arena of Valor. Today, MOBAs are some of the most played and watched games worldwide, with active professional leagues and million dollar tournament prize pools. Let‘s examine why these team-based strategy games have captured the attention of so many players.

Why MOBAs Have Become Massive Hits

MOBAs like League of Legends, Dota 2, and Smite have several compelling factors that explain their rise as dominant online multiplayer titles over the past decade:

• Free-To-Play Model: By allowing free access to the core game while monetizing through optional cosmetics and heroes, MOBAs have incredibly low barriers to entry and massive potential reach.

• Easy To Learn, Nearly Impossible To Master: The basic concept of two teams battling to destroy their opponent‘s base is straightforward and accessible, yet the gameplay possibilities are nearly endless with over 100 unique heroes to choose from in most titles. There is always room for players to improve their skills and strategy over hundreds of hours.

• Regular Content Updates: MOBA developers frequently release new heroes, maps, cosmetics, and balance changes to keep gameplay fresh and evolving year after year. There are always new tactics and synergies to discover.

• Social Experience: Playing together and coordinating with friends as a team provides natural social engagement and enjoyable multiplayer dynamics beyond just technical skill. MOBAs create bonding experiences win or lose.

• Thriving Esports Scene: The competitive ranked ladders and professional leagues surrounding most MOBAs provide motivation to improve and a constant source of entertainment. The 2021 League of Legends World Championship drew over 73 million peak concurrent viewers, surpassing major traditional sports events.

Data Source: Escharts.com

Now that we‘ve explored the origins of MOBAs and analyzed why they have become a dominant gaming trend, let‘s dive deeper into what exactly defines this genre and how matches play out.

Core Gameplay and Components of MOBAs

While MOBAs can vary in art style and specific mechanics, they share these key gameplay traits and systems that define the genre:

• 5v5 PvP Battles: MOBA matches consist of two teams of five human players facing off on an arena-like battlefield. The core combat revolves around player vs player battles rather than fighting AI.

• Lane-based Maps: MOBA maps have distinct lanes connecting each team‘s base that are lined by defensive turrets. Players work together in lanes to advance toward the enemy base. The jungle area between lanes is filled with neutral monsters and resources.

• Objectives: Each match has a primary objective, typically to penetrate the enemy base and destroy their most valuable structure. However, secondary objectives like powerful buffs from neutral monsters can provide advantages.

• Hero Selection: There are pools of 30+ heroes in most MOBAs and each player selects one for a match. Heroes have unique abilities and designs ranging from tanks to mages to assassins that result in endless team composition possibilities.

• Progression: Heroes gain experience points, gold, and items throughout a match to unlock new abilities and become more powerful. Managing your hero‘s progression is key.

• Roles and Teamplay: MOBA players specialize into different roles like damage, tank, support, etc. Effective teamwork and coordination are crucial – it‘s not just about individual performance.

Now that we‘ve outlined the core components that comprise a MOBA experience, let‘s visualize how a typical match unfolds from start to finish.

How MOBA Matches Unfold from Start to Finish

MOBA matches play out in distinct phases. Here is the usual progression all the way from hero selections to final victory:

1. Hero Select: Teams take turns picking heroes that synergize well together to form a balanced composition. Counterpicking opponents is part of the strategy.

2. Laning Phase: Teams split up 1-1-2 with a jungler and battle their lane opponents to gain experience, gold from minion kills, and destroy opposing turrets.

3. Mid Game: Teams group up for larger skirmishes, pursue objectives like dragon or herald buffs, push lanes, and look for kills. This is a crucial power struggle.

4. Late Game: Full 5v5 teamfights break out that can determine the outcome. One decisive teamfight can allow a team to advance to the enemy base and win. Games are extremely competitive.

5. Final Push: The winning team presses their advantage to break into the enemy base, destroy key structures like inhibitors that spawn super minions, and ultimately destroy the nexus to achieve victory.

As you can see, MOBA matches have a natural escalating flow that tests teams‘ skills in both individual lanes, jungling, and climatic teamfighting. Now let‘s explore how hero selection and progression underpins everything.

Hero Selection and Progression Systems

MOBAs give players access to pools of heroes (often called champions or legends in specific titles) numbering from around 30 up past 150. These heroes have unique designs, backgrounds, and skillsets. Hero selection and progression over a match involve:

• Unique Abilities: Every hero has 4+ active abilities with different effects like damage, crowd control, shields, mobility, healing, etc. Finding heroes that align with your playstyle is key.

• Attribute Types: Heroes fall under categories like tank, fighter, mage, marksman, support, assassin, etc. Teams combine attributes to create a balanced composition.

• Itemization: Heroes earn gold to purchase items during a match that offer bonuses like damage, armor, magic resistance, cooldown reduction, etc. The choices customize and strengthen your hero.

• Experience and Levels: Heroes earn XP from actions like defeating foes which cause them to level up and unlock enhanced abilities and stats over the course of a match. Reaching max level 18 takes around 40 minutes typically.

• Skins and Cosmetics: MOBAs make additional heroes, skins, taunts, and consumable cosmetics available for purchase to customize the look and feel of your hero. These don‘t affect gameplay.

Here is an example table comparing two popular MOBA heroes and their vastly different abilities:

Hero	Abilities	Attribute
Garen (LoL)	Judgment (dash spin), Decisive Strike (attack boost), Courage (shield), Demacian Justice (ranged execute)	Fighter/Tank
Gideon (Paragon)	Cosmic Rift (AOE slow), Torn Space (teleport), Burden (AOE stun ultimate)	Caster

This contrast shows how hero selection provides near endless team composition possibilities. Now let‘s explore some key strategic elements.

Key Elements of MOBA Strategy and Metagames

While mastering mechanical control of a hero is important, MOBAs are also deeply strategic games. Some key strategic aspects include:

• Lane Compositions: The duo lane, mid lane, and jungle position each call for different types of heroes to create a cohesive lineup.

• Rotations and Ganks: Roaming between lanes for surprise "ganks" to overwhelm an opponent is crucial. This relies on map awareness and teamwork.

• Vision Control: Purchasing and placing wards to gain vision of the map and see enemy movements is a vital investment. Denying vision is also impactful.

• Objective Timing: Securing map objectives like Baron or Rift Herald at the right moments can provide game-changing boosts if teams are coordinated.

• Powerspikes: Building team comps around heroes that spike in power at certain levels or items is a common and deadly strategy.

• Meta Trends: The way roles are allocated and heroes are valued shifts over time as players discover optimal strategies. Keeping up with the meta is important.

MOBA strategy goes far beyond what I‘ve outlined here, but these examples demonstrate how competitive depth emerges from the game mechanics. Next let‘s survey the top titles dominating the current MOBA landscape.

Current Major Titles and Distinguished Features

The MOBA genre has expanded to include various gameplay styles and forms of monetization. Here are the major titles, key distinguishing features, and monthly active users:

• League of Legends: The world‘s most popular MOBA boasting over 115 million monthly players. Offers a competitive ranked mode and the most established esport scene.

• Dota 2: Direct successor to Defense of the Ancients and rival to League of Legends with hardcore gameplay. Boasts record-setting International tournament prize pools over $30 million.

• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang: Built for mobile devices with simplified gameplay to reach over 75 million monthly active users. Very popular in Southeast Asia.

• Smite: Offers a fresh third-person camera angle and gameplay set in mythological pantheons. Has around 25 million players monthly.

• Heroes of the Storm: Blizzard‘s take on MOBAs with shared team experience, shorter matches, and objective-centric maps. Around 5 million monthly players.

• Arena of Valor: A mobile MOBA with fast match times below 20 minutes. Massive 200 million registered users, though monthly actives likely below 5 million.

Each major MOBA title brings unique elements and IP to attract their respective player bases. But there are also opportunities outside of the biggest franchises.

Opportunities in Collegiate, Amateur, and Mobile MOBAs

While mega titles like League of Legends and Dota 2 dominate the upper echelons of competitive MOBA play, there are opportunities for players and spectators in amateur, collegiate, and mobile-first markets.

For example, Riot Games‘ College League of Legends circuit provides structure for hundreds of college teams to compete and earn scholarship prizes. Smaller indie MOBAs like Heroes of Newerth cater to niche hardcore audiences.

In the mobile realm, titles like Arena of Valor and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang have found success overseas by tailoring MOBA gameplay for touch controls and shorter session lengths. MOBA gameplay innovations can lower barriers to entry.

There is room for the MOBA genre to expand beyond the traditional PC and top-down view to reach broader demographics on mobile, tapping into amateur aspirations, and making gameplay more accessible overall.

Improving Representation and Inclusiveness is Vital

For a genre with such widespread popularity, MOBAs unfortunately suffer from issues like toxicity and lack of representation that limit their potential reach.

For example, Riot‘s League of Legends has been rightfully criticized for overly sexualized female champion designs and insufficient racial diversity in their roster. Representation issues extend to competitive play – a 2018 investigation revealed rampant sexism and harassment towards women at Riot Games. Progress has been made, but there is room to improve.

Creating more diverse and respectful player communities, along with inclusive champion rosters and storylines, would allow MOBAs to better resonate across demographics. The growth potential is immense. There are also opportunities for new titles to enter the market with inclusive values at the core.

Helpful Tips for Getting Started

If you‘re looking to dip your toes into the expansive waters of MOBAs, here is my advice for getting started:

• Find Friends – Playing with friends, even as just a duo, will make learning much more enjoyable. The social connections make MOBAs shine.

• Start Simple – When first selecting heroes, go for straightforward ones with only a few activated abilities. This reduces complexity as you learn.

• Focus on Farming – Practice last hitting minions for gold income. Learning this farming system is the foundation for growth.

• Avoid Toxicity – Don‘t hesitate to mute abusive chat and focus on your own gameplay. Don‘t be discouraged by others.

• Watch Tutorials – Content creators offer great videos explaining roles, items, and strategy for new players. LEarn from them!

• Review After Matches – Watch replays of your matches to see moments of opportunity for improvement. Focus on growth.

The most important thing is keeping a positive mentality, reviewing your mistakes, and striving to incrementally improve over time. MOBAs have immense depth but start simple.

The Bright Future and Evolution of MOBAs

It has been over 15 years since Defense of the Ancients first emerged as a mod, and the MOBA genre has proven its staying power as a dominant form of online competition and spectator entertainment. These titles will continue evolving in exciting ways:

• Advancing Mobile Platforms – MOBAs on mobile are only going to become more sophisticated as phones grow more powerful, expanding the player base.

• New GameModes – There is room for innovation in game modes with different objectives, map designs, and PvE elements beyond the classic MOBA format.

• Improved Tutorials – Better onboarding for new players and tools for learning heroes could make MOBAs even more accessible to new audiences.

• Expanded Universes – MOBA publishers have opportunities to grow their characters and worlds through multimedia content, fostering engaged communities.

• geographic Growth – Penetrating markets like consoles, India, Africa, and South America offers new frontiers for MOBAs to conquer.

The core 5v5 competitive experience at the heart of MOBAs provides endless potential for growth and reinvention. As a fan since the early DotA days, I‘m excited to watch this genre continue evolving for another decade and beyond.

So in summary, MOBAs offer a breed of highly competitive team-based online gameplay that blends elements from various genres into a uniquely addictive format. The social connections, constant improvement, and spectator excitement around titles like League of Legends cement their status as titans of modern gaming. This deep dive should give you a holistic understanding of what exactly defines a MOBA, traced the origins in DotA mods, provided gameplay breakdowns, and offered advice to get started yourself. Let me know if you have any other MOBA questions!