10 articles
Defense of the Ancients
Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is a 2003 Warcraft III custom map by Eul, expanded by Guinsoo and IceFrog, that defined the MOBA genre and led to Valve's Dota 2.
Dota 2
Dota 2 (Defense of the Ancients 2) is Valve's free-to-play 5v5 MOBA, successor to the Warcraft III DotA mod, released July 2013; 126 heroes, denies and teleport scrolls distinguish it from League of Legends, and The International once held a $40 million crowdfunded prize pool.
Heroes of Newerth
Heroes of Newerth (HoN), a 2010 DotA-based MOBA by S2 Games on the K2 engine, sold to Garena 2015, run by Frostburn Studios, shut down 2022, revived as HoN: Reborn in 2025.
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm (HotS) is Blizzard Entertainment's free-to-play 5v5 MOBA, launched June 2, 2015, known for shared team experience, talents instead of items, and multiple battlegrounds; revived at BlizzCon 2026 with hero Xal'atath.
Honor of Kings (王者荣耀)
Honor of Kings (王者荣耀), also known internationally via Arena of Valor, is Tencent TiMi's 5v5 mobile MOBA launched in China in 2015, with 100+ heroes, 100 million daily active users in 2020, and repeated top-grossing mobile game revenue.
League of Legends
League of Legends (LoL), Riot Games' free-to-play MOBA since 2009, born from the DotA Allstars mod: 5v5 Summoner's Rift matches, 170+ champions, 100M+ monthly players, franchised esports, and the Netflix series Arcane.
Master X Master
Master X Master (MXM, 全职大师) was NCSoft's free-to-play dual-hero action MOBA for PC, released June 21, 2017; its Tag System let players swap two Masters mid-combat. Servers closed January 31, 2018 after about seven months.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (决胜巅峰, MLBB) is a free-to-play mobile 5v5 MOBA by Moonton, released 2016, with 1.5 billion installs, 110 million monthly users, and record-setting M Series esports.
Multiplayer online battle arena
A multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), also called action real-time strategy, is a video game genre where each player controls a single hero and teams compete to destroy the enemy base.
Smite (video game)
Smite is a free-to-play third-person MOBA by Titan Forge Games and Hi-Rez Studios, released March 25, 2014, where players control 100+ mythological gods; a Unreal Engine 5 sequel, Smite 2, entered alpha in 2024.