What is MOBA game? Top 7 hottest MOBA games of 2023

Moba games are one of the most popular game genres today. The most prominent of which are the most successful games globally today: League of Legends (LOL) and Dota 2. So what is a MOBA game? Let's find out with TipsMake in the article below.

What is MOBA game?

MOBA game or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena is a genre of multiplayer online fighting arena game. MOBA games are also known as ARTs or real-time strategy-action games. Therefore, this game series can be considered a small branch of the strategy game genre.

In particular, games of the MOBA genre will include a main arena which is a fixed map with 1 main house, 3 lanes, guard towers, soldiers and monster fields. Players participating in this map will be divided into two factions, Blue and Red, in two opposite areas.

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Each faction will consist of 5 people who work together to destroy soldiers, road guards, monsters in the forest and defeat opponents to earn more gold to buy additional power equipment. Only when a faction's main house is destroyed will the game end.

The duration of a match will depend on the level and skills of the players in the faction. If the two sides are evenly matched, a match can even last from 45 minutes to more than 1 hour. However, if superior players meet weaker opponents, the game can even end at 15 minutes.

History of MOBA game formation

MOBA games have a long history of development and improvement. The following are important milestones in the process of building, improving and gradually becoming popular of this game series.

The beginning of MOBA games

The MOBA game concept originates from the Aeon of Strife mod of the game StarCraft. Unlike the official version, in this mod, the player will control the character to destroy the main house automatically built and controlled by the computer. This is also the money to create the extremely popular MOBA game series at present.

Improvements and developments

After the release of WarCraft III with the ability to customize levels, the legendary mod Aeon of Strife with the new game mode Defense of the Ancients (DotA) was created by player Eul. Later, this mod was improved to create the Dota Allstar version with countless new functions such as experience, jungle monsters and gold.

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The birth of new recruits in the MOBA genre

In 2005, a member of Dota Allstar - Guinsoo left this organization and joined Riot Games, the developer of the later game League of Legends. In 2009, the game League of Legends - League of Legend (LOL) officially launched to gamers around the world and was immediately received extremely warmly.

The reason why the game LOL is loved by many people is because of its eye-catching, lively graphics and new, rich gameplay. In particular, this game is completely free, so it attracted a huge number of players at that time.

In 2010, following the birth of League of Legends, a MOBA game called Heroes of Newerth (HoN) was released. HoN is considered to have the same graphics and gameplay mechanics as DotA but in a paid form. It is this point that makes the game not receive too much attention from gamers. After that, HoN switched to a free format, but that was also the time when Dota 2 was born.

Dota 2 launched with quality upgrades

Dota 2 officially launched in 2013 on the Steam platform under the development of Valve. This version retains the core foundation of DotA but is greatly improved and upgraded in terms of graphics and gameplay.

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From the above basic information, it can be seen that the most important thing in the MOBA game series is the cohesion and coordination of team members. Each member will take on a different role to fight and defeat the enemy to bring final victory.

What is attractive about MOBA games?

A characteristic of the MOBA game series is the rich number of generals. However, they will be in the following main classes:

1. Gunners: These are generals who take on the main offensive position in the team. Gunners often have the ability to attack from afar with huge amounts of physical damage. However, they often have the disadvantage of having low health, consuming a lot of energy (mana), and poor resistance and mobility.
2. Gladiators: Are champions who travel solo and have good solo abilities. The outstanding points of Gladiator class champions are their abundant health and mana, good resistance, and the ability to rush in and attract enemies. However, Gladiators usually do not have too much damage.
3. Mages: Are generals who specialize in magical attacks. Mages are quite similar to Gunners in that they have a lot of damage but have low health, mana, resistance and mobility.
4. Assassins: These are generals who specialize in sudden attacks, one combo - one kill. The advantage of an Assassin is high mobility, being able to quickly attack with huge amounts of damage. However, the biggest disadvantage of this champion class is the low amount of health and resistance. Assassins are often chosen in the Jungler position.
5. Support: These are generals who specialize in accompanying the Gunner to support and protect the Gunner from enemy attacks. There are many forms of Support that can be mentioned such as Protection Support (increases armor, has moves to protect the Gunner), Support to initiate combat (has many control moves, stuns, and binds), Pure Support ( increased health, increased damage, increased armor),. Normally, Support champions will have a lot of health, armor, good defense but limited flexibility and low damage.

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The above advantages are only relative characteristics of each class of statues. In fact, each general will possess many moves belonging to other classes and can change position or switch paths when necessary.

For example : The Mage can be repositioned to the bottom lane and go with the Support instead of the Gunner because of the similarities of these two classes. Or the Gladiator champion can be used for the Support position if it suits the squad and strategy the team has proposed.

Besides the flexibility between champions, players can also create many new strategies with unique equipment and combos. If that tactic is effective, it will be applied by other gamers and become the Meta (Most Efficient Tactics Available) of the game at that time.

Top 7 most played MOBA games today

Nowadays there are many new MOBA games released every year. However, the following are 7 famous MOBA games that have the largest number of players today.

1. League of Legends

League of Legends is certainly a MOBA game associated with the childhood of many gamers. This is also the most famous game and has the top 1 position in the MOBA game industry worldwide. League of Legends is a product released by Riot Games (now part of Tencent) with more than 100 million players around the world every month.

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Up to now, League of Legends has spent more than 10 years in operation with a system of professional, semi-professional, international and domestic tournaments held each year. At the same time, developer Riot Games also introduces many new costumes or quality music videos and movies to attract gamers.

Especially recently, the Arcane animated series from this producer has been highly appreciated by viewers in terms of images, plot and graphics.

2. DOTA 2

DOTA 2 is an upgraded version of DOTA 1 from manufacturer Valve. This is also considered a game capable of competing directly with League of Legends. However, the complexity of DOTA 2's gameplay is considered higher, so the number of people playing this game is also less than League of Legends.

DOTA 2 also owns a professional international tournament system with huge prizes of up to 40 million USD (TI10 – 2021).

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3. PUBG

PUBG is a MOBA game of the survival genre. In the PUGB map, it is not divided into 3 lanes and 2 factions, but will be divided into areas for players to collect items. After a period of time, the survival area will shrink and players will now be forced to fight each other to survive.

Depending on the game mode, the number of people entering the map, collection locations, terrain, etc. will be different. However, the ultimate goal that any player aims for is to survive to the end. PUGB is currently released on both PC and mobile platforms.

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4. Lien Quan Mobile

If you don't have much time to play games on PC but still want to experience MOBA games, Lien Quan Mobile is the game for you. Launched at the end of 2016, until now this is still a game with a large and stable number of gamers.

With fast gameplay and many generals combined with famous movies and stories such as Batman, Superman,. Lien Quan Moblie creates great attraction for people who love playing games on phones.

The system of large and small tournaments further solidifies the position of this game in the MOBA gaming industry on the Mobile platform. Currently, Lien Quan Mobile is still regularly launching many new generals with unique playing mechanisms and increasingly attractive and vivid graphics.

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5. Wild Rift (League of Legends Mobile)

Quite similar to Lien Quan Moblie, but Wild Rift is the official moblie version developed based on the game League of Legends. In which the control mechanisms and skills and effects of each general will be changed to suit mobile devices. The difference is that there will be some champions developed in Wild Rift but will not appear on the PC version of League of Legends.

6. Marvel Super Wars

If Lien Quan Mobile only owns a few superhero generals, then Marvel Super Wars will bring players a separate world that brings together all the characters of this cinematic universe. You can choose your favorite superhero character like Iron Man, Doctor Strange,. to join. Each character will have a unique set of moves based on that superhero's trademark abilities.

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7. Pokemon UNITE

If you are a lover of the Pokemon series and the MOBA game series, you can try playing Pokemon Unite - a combination of these two elements. This is a game developed by TimiStudio on multi-platform Android, iOS and Nintendo Switch.

Coming to Pokemon Unite, you will immerse yourself in the colorful Pokemon world in a very new way. First of all, you will choose the type of Pokemon you love. You will then combine with 4 teammates and fight with enemies on the map.

Frequently asked questions about MOBA games

MOBA games are increasingly popular and familiar to the gaming community. However, there are still many questions surrounding this game series. Such as:

Who is MOBA game suitable for?

MOBA games are suitable for all gamers and regardless of the player's age or gender. Of course, this game series will be best suited for people who don't have time to play games or plow too much. Because MOBA game matches usually only last 30 - 40 minutes.

Why are MOBA games so popular?

The main reasons why MOBA games become popular can be listed as follows:

MOBA games are easy to learn but difficult to master

The main operating principle of MOBA games is very simple. That is, the player needs to coordinate with teammates to defeat the opponent and destroy your team's base first. You just need to understand this principle when starting any MOBA game.
However, to master this game, you need to practice hard for a long time. The reason is because these games often have a rich number of generals, complex map structures, the strengths of generals change over time, and mid-game goals change constantly, making it very difficult to achieve. Master this entire game.

Diversity of generals

As mentioned, the number of generals in MOBA games is very rich and that is also the point that attracts many players to this game series. As of September 2022, the number of League of Legends generals has reached 160 generals, while DOTA 2 has 123 generals. The number of these generals will continue to grow over time.

Incredible competitiveness

No one could have expected that MOBA games would become one of the most prominent eSports genres today. In which famous games such as LOL, DOTA 2, PUBG, Lien Quan Mobile,. all own professional large and small tournament systems that attract tens, hundreds of thousands of viewers.

All free

MOBA games are mostly free to download and play. However, the publisher will only provide a small number of champions for players to initially experience. And to be able to own all the generals, players can gradually accumulate in-game currency to buy; or recharge.
In addition to generals, the developer also provides many more items such as skins (general costumes), icons, items,. with beautiful designs. They will not have any effect in enhancing the strength of champions but will be very unique and attractive.

Runs on most current devices

The final factor that makes the MOBA game series so popular is its compatibility with most devices, from desktop computers, laptops to phones. In general, MOBA games can operate smoothly even on devices with low configuration. Players can also lower the effect options to suit the device.

Epilogue

Above is general information about the MOBA game series which is very HOT and attracts many gamers on the market. Hopefully through the article, you have understood the history of formation and development of this game series. Wishing you moments of relaxation, comfort and fun with the above attractive MOBA games.

Lesley Montoya

Update 04 October 2023