List of multiplayer online battle arena games
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
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]
1998
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
Discontinued
Discontinued with the demise of Flash on December 21, 2020.
2009
Avalon Heroes
WeMade Entertainment
Windows
Yes
Discontinued
Officially shut down on February 8, 2013.
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
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.
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
Honor of Kings
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 Games
iOS, Android
Yes
No
Officially shut down on June 18, 2024.[ 26]
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.[ 27]
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
2025
Smite 2
Hi-Rez Studios
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Steam Deck
Yes
Yes
Sequel of Smite .
References
^ 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 .
^ "Herzog Zwei (Genesis)" . Retrieved October 18, 2017 .
^ "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!
^ Lockley, Greg (June 3, 2014). "MOBA: The story so far" . MCV .
^ Groen, Andrew (March 7, 2012). "Ask GR Anything: What's a MOBA?" . GamesRadar .
^ Lopuszanski, Stefan (July 2019). "It's Mods All The Way Down" . doi :10.13140/RG.2.2.25818.08644 .
^ McCarthy, Caty (October 19, 2017). "The Rise and Fall of Visceral Games" . USgamer . Gamer Network . Retrieved September 20, 2020 .
^ "The Emergence of the Dota Genre" . NeutralCreeps. Retrieved October 29, 2010 .
^ "Heroes Of Newerth Goes Free-To-Play" . GameInformer. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2011 .
^ "New Free to Play on Steam - Rise of Immortals" . Valve. 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011 .
^ Usher, William (May 30, 2012). "Guardians Of Middle-Earth Coming This Fall To Xbox 360, PS3" . Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012.
^ "Guardians of Middle-Earth" . Sony Entertainment Network. Retrieved June 6, 2014 .
^ "Guardians of Middle-earth on Steam" . store.steampowered.com . Retrieved June 15, 2023 .
^ "Wrath of Heroes news: A Heartbroken Farewell" . Electronic Arts. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2013 .
^ "Dota 2 for Linux" . dev.dota2.com. Retrieved March 15, 2016 .
^ "Spoils of War - FAQ" . Dota2.com . Valve. Retrieved June 12, 2012 .
^ "Cartoon Network | Free Online Games, Downloads, Competitions & Videos for Kids" . Cartoon Network . Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2016 .
^ "Free Games - Download & Play Free PC Games | Origin Games" . dawngate.com. Retrieved March 15, 2016 .
^ "Prime World: Important News" . store.steampowered.com. February 18, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2021 .
^ "Patch Notes Version 2.2.14.1513" . November 22, 2013. Archived from the original on December 15, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2014 .
^ "Paragon to Close on April 26" . Paragon . Retrieved February 1, 2018 .
^ Acebedo, Bayani Miguel (December 19, 2018). "Star Wars: Force Arena is Shutting Down" . Epicstream . Retrieved February 9, 2019 .
^ "Arena of Valor for Nintendo Switch" .
^ McWhertor, Michael (January 31, 2018). "Gigantic gets final update, shutting down in July" . Polygon . Retrieved June 4, 2020 .
^ 『マーベル スーパーウォー』が6月18日にサービス終了へ。マーベルのスーパーヒーローを操り5vs5のチーム戦が楽しめるMOBAゲーム [Marvel Super War will end service on June 18. A MOBA game in which you control Marvel's superheroes and enjoy 5 vs 5 team battles]. Dengeki Online (in Japanese). May 9, 2024. Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024 .
^ Good, Owen S. (January 28, 2021). "Ninja Theory shuts down development on Bleeding Edge" . Polygon . Retrieved January 19, 2022 .