MOBA

In a MOBA two teams each control one character apiece, and each character gains abilities as the match goes on. Computer-controlled units march down lanes between the bases, and a team wins by destroying the other side’s main structure. The genre grew out of real-time strategy, with base building and unit production taken away.

Where the name comes from

Riot Games coined “multiplayer online battle arena” for League of Legends, released in 2009. Valve rejects the name and calls Dota 2 an “action RTS”, or ARTS. The games go back to custom maps for Blizzard’s strategy games: Aeon of Strife for StarCraft (2002) and Defense of the Ancients for Warcraft III (2003).

Where the edges are

The name is still split between Riot’s MOBA and Valve’s ARTS, and writers disagree on whether the genre still counts as real-time strategy. The first game is contested: Aeon of Strife or DotA, with Herzog Zwei (1989) cited as an early ancestor.

Key MOBA games

Each game links to its article; the last column links to the source that puts it in the genre.

Related genres: Real-time strategy, Hero shooter, Auto battler.

At a glance

Parent genre

Real-time strategy

Name coined by

Riot Games (League of Legends)

Origin

Aeon of Strife (2002), Defense of the Ancients (2003)

Also called

ARTS (Valve)

Sources

Checked November 3, 2026.

1. Multiplayer online battle arena — Wikipedia
2. MOBA, DOTA, ARTS: A brief introduction to gaming's biggest, most impenetrable genre — Polygon