From a map to a genre
The Defense of the Ancients (DotA) map was made in the Warcraft III editor. Its main developer became an anonymous creator called IceFrog, who was later hired by Valve. MOBA stands for “multiplayer online battle arena”.
The big three
- League of Legends (2009) is free and became one of the most played games in the world.
- Dota 2 (2013) is known for The International tournament, with record prize pools crowdfunded by fans.
- Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm did not last.
A new generation
In 2024 Valve revealed Deadlock, which combines a MOBA with a third-person action shooter.