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.

List

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
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 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 Avalon Heroes WeMade Entertainment Windows Yes Discontinued Officially shut down on February 8, 2013.
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

References

  1. ^ Clarke-Willson, Stephen (August 18, 1998). "The Origin of Realtime Strategy Games on the PC". The Rise and Fall of Virgin Interactive. Above the Garage Productions. Archived from the original on November 22, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  2. ^ "Herzog Zwei (Genesis)". Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  3. ^ "The Making of... Dune II". Edge. Next-Gen.biz. December 9, 2008. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 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!
  4. ^ Lockley, Greg (June 3, 2014). "MOBA: The story so far". MCV.
  5. ^ Groen, Andrew (March 7, 2012). "Ask GR Anything: What's a MOBA?". GamesRadar.
  6. ^ Lopuszanski, Stefan (July 2019). "It's Mods All The Way Down". doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.25818.08644. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ McCarthy, Caty (October 19, 2017). "The Rise and Fall of Visceral Games". USgamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  8. ^ "The Emergence of the Dota Genre". NeutralCreeps. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  9. ^ "Heroes Of Newerth Goes Free-To-Play". GameInformer. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  10. ^ "New Free to Play on Steam - Rise of Immortals". Valve. 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
  11. ^ Usher, William (May 30, 2012). "Guardians Of Middle-Earth Coming This Fall To Xbox 360, PS3". Cinema Blend.
  12. ^ "Guardians of Middle-Earth". Sony Entertainment Network. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  13. ^ "Guardians of Middle-earth on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  14. ^ "Wrath of Heroes news: A Heartbroken Farewell". Electronic Arts. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
  15. ^ "Dota 2 for Linux". dev.dota2.com. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  16. ^ "Spoils of War - FAQ". Dota2.com. Valve. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  17. ^ "Cartoon Network | Free Online Games, Downloads, Competitions & Videos for Kids". cartoonnetwork.com. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  18. ^ "Free Games - Download & Play Free PC Games | Origin Games". dawngate.com. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  19. ^ "Prime World: Important News". store.steampowered.com. February 18, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  20. ^ "Patch Notes Version 2.2.14.1513". November 22, 2013. Archived from the original on December 15, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  21. ^ "Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: Infinite Crisis". steamcommunity.com. June 2, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  22. ^ "Paragon to Close on April 26". Paragon. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  23. ^ Acebedo, Bayani Miguel (December 19, 2018). "Star Wars: Force Arena is Shutting Down". Epicstream. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  24. ^ "Arena of Valor for Nintendo Switch".
  25. ^ McWhertor, Michael (January 31, 2018). "Gigantic gets final update, shutting down in July". Polygon. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  26. ^ Good, Owen S. (January 28, 2021). "Ninja Theory shuts down development on Bleeding Edge". Polygon. Retrieved January 19, 2022.

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