MOBAs are suddenly back in fashion, and one dev says it might be because of soulslikes: 'Now that more players understand that it feels great to master a difficult game, I think more are willing to take that journey' (2024)

MOBAs are suddenly back in fashion, and one dev says it might be because of soulslikes: 'Now that more players understand that it feels great to master a difficult game, I think more are willing to take that journey' (1)

2024 is feeling very 2016 all of a sudden. No, I don't mean because we're reentering the psychic maelstrom of election season; I'm talking about the MOBAs. In the back half of the 2010s, we watched the industry pack the market way past the MOBA oversaturation point as it seemed like every major publisher was racing to capture whatever lightning Riot and Valve hadn't already bottled with League of Legends and Dota 2.

Many of those efforts failed as, tragically, jungling as Batman didn't prove compelling enough to draw a sustainable amount of attention away from the biggest players in the space. The market moved on to chase the emerging battle royale zeitgeist, trailing failed MOBAs in its wake and leaving the genre to its handful of unchallenged titans.

But now, years later, there's a bunch of MOBA action happening all at once. It began in April, when the formerly free-to-play Gigantic returned from its 2018 closure as Gigantic: Rampage Edition. August, though, has felt like the breaking of some arcane seal that was keeping lane-based combat from reemerging into the world. Over the last few weeks, Predecessor—the MOBA built from the assets of Epic's defunct Paragon—got its 1.0 release, Smite 2 has launched its buy-in closed alpha, and Valve revealed Deadlock, its in-development third person shooter MOBA whose not-so-secret closed playtest had attracted tens of thousands of players.

Whether it's a temporary burst of activity or the beginning of a renaissance, MOBAs are back in vogue. The question is: Why now? For Alex Cantatore, executive producer for Smite 2, soulslikes deserve some of the credit.

"I've often described MOBAs as the 'soulslike' of multiplayer genres," Cantatore told PC Gamer via email. "They're really hard. You're going to die a lot to learn the game." While technically demanding games have always had their audience, we're now in a world where games like Elden Ring can casually brutalize their players and still sell tens of millions of copies. With punishing games achieving a mainstream appeal, Cantatore says MOBAs have an opportunity to attract an audience they might not have been able to eight years ago.

"That same feeling you get when you take down Malenia? Like you were rewarded for deeply mastering the game? That's the feeling you get from winning every game of Smite 2," Cantatore said. "Now that more players understand that it feels great to master a difficult game, I think more are willing to take that journey."

Robbie Singh, CEO of Predecessor developer Omeda Studios, thinks we aren't seeing a MOBA comeback so much as a MOBA evolution. "In our view, MOBAs never really went away in the first place," Singh told PC Gamer over email.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

Instead, Singh thinks the core audience of western gamers turned its attention elsewhere as MOBAs didn't keep up with advancing tech and design standards. "It could be that a new generation of gamers is just now coming to realize that there's also a new generation of MOBAs that look and play better than the ones they may be used to," Singh said.

For Cantatore, it seemed like so many MOBAs failed in the late 2010s because they didn't offer a compelling alternative to what was being offered by League and Dota. "I think during the last MOBA boom, you saw a lot of fine games that didn’t really evolve the formula and so they didn't stand out compared to established competitors," Cantatore said. "Smite survived because it threaded the perfect balance."

Similarly, Singh says Omeda understands that, in 2024, it's not enough for Predecessor to try and repackage the traditional MOBA experience. "These days, we'd say that to be successful as a modern MOBA you need a solid foundation of heroes and core mechanics, but we also want to step back and look beyond the genre itself," Singh said.

Considering that Gigantic, Smite 2, Predecessor, and now Valve's Deadlock are all MOBAs that have cast off the traditional RTS-style controls for a third person, action-centric presentation, it seems like there's a common sentiment that MOBAs need to meet changing expectations.

"I think player expectations just keep growing," Cantatore said. "And we think the only way to meet those expectations is to get your game out in the public earlier than you're really comfortable with, so that you can get feedback on exactly what players think and what they want."

Lincoln spent his formative years in World of Warcraft, and hopes to someday recover from the experience. Having earned a Creative Writing degree by convincing professors to accept his papers about Dwarf Fortress, he leverages that expertise in his most important work: judging a videogame’s lore purely by its proper nouns. Lincoln's previously written for sites like Waypoint, Polygon, and Fanbyte, and spent three years freelancing for PC Gamer before joining on as News Writer in 2024. He's a sicko for games that act as storytelling toolkits, whether we’re shaping those stories for ourselves or sharing them with others, and will take any opportunity to gush about Monster Hunter.

More about moba

How finished is Deadlock?Deadlock's lanes are utterly fascinating when it comes to MOBA design, and it's because of its shooter elements—not in spite of them

Latest

Obsidian seems scared people will compare Avowed to Skyrim, but it shouldn't be—the similarities are obvious, but the differences make it compelling
See more latest►

See comments

Most Popular
All Honkai: Star Rail codes from the 2.5 livestream
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2's revamped Cognition system is incredibly clever, bridging the gap between wargame vets and tactics fans
Shinji Mikami doesn't think the world needs another Dino Crisis, 'that's been kind of nailed down by Monster Hunter in recent years'
This open source tool updates DLSS to the latest version in all your games at once and no matter the launcher
As Intel's struggles continue, rumours are now emerging that plans are afoot to flog its chip-manufacturing fabs
Space marines are so big the Space Marine 2 dev team had to spend a considerable amount of time just getting their walking and running animations right
Today's Wordle answer for Friday, August 30
Deadlock's first major patch adds wall jumping and over a hundred balance changes
'We are not an extraction shooter, hero shooter, or some competitive tac shooter:' Cyberpunk FPS Defect's secret fourth thing actually has me excited for a PvEvP game for once
Sid Meier was apparently baffled by the decision to launch Civilization 5 without Genghis Khan: 'Sid said, What?'
Demonschool, the Persona-like tactical RPG about battling demons while getting a good education, has been delayed into 2025 so developers can add 'more life and liveliness' to the game world
MOBAs are suddenly back in fashion, and one dev says it might be because of soulslikes: 'Now that more players understand that it feels great to master a difficult game, I think more are willing to take that journey' (2024)
Top Articles
Pink Bean owners have branched out into a tasty new business. Here's what's next.
Top 17 things to do in Chattanooga - Lonely Planet
English Bulldog Puppies For Sale Under 1000 In Florida
Restored Republic January 20 2023
Sam's Club Gas Price Hilliard
Bluegabe Girlfriend
Lichtsignale | Spur H0 | Sortiment | Viessmann Modelltechnik GmbH
2013 Chevy Cruze Coolant Hose Diagram
Missing 2023 Showtimes Near Lucas Cinemas Albertville
Nj Scratch Off Remaining Prizes
Theycallmemissblue
065106619
London Ups Store
60 X 60 Christmas Tablecloths
Mzinchaleft
3S Bivy Cover 2D Gen
X-Chromosom: Aufbau und Funktion
The best firm mattress 2024, approved by sleep experts
Great Clips Grandview Station Marion Reviews
Purdue 247 Football
‘The Boogeyman’ Review: A Minor But Effectively Nerve-Jangling Stephen King Adaptation
Sam's Club Gas Price Hilliard
Suspiciouswetspot
Keshi with Mac Ayres and Starfall (Rescheduled from 11/1/2024) (POSTPONED) Tickets Thu, Nov 1, 2029 8:00 pm at Pechanga Arena - San Diego in San Diego, CA
Evil Dead Rise Showtimes Near Regal Sawgrass & Imax
Insidious 5 Showtimes Near Cinemark Southland Center And Xd
Tu Housing Portal
Craigslist/Phx
The Pretty Kitty Tanglewood
Usf Football Wiki
Banana Republic Rewards Login
Dying Light Nexus
Ursula Creed Datasheet
Lake Andes Buy Sell Trade
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten Gogoanime
Blackwolf Run Pro Shop
Academic Notice and Subject to Dismissal
844 386 9815
Nimbleaf Evolution
Learn4Good Job Posting
Lesson 5 Homework 4.5 Answer Key
Every Type of Sentinel in the Marvel Universe
What Is The Gcf Of 44J5K4 And 121J2K6
Craigslist.raleigh
683 Job Calls
Unbiased Thrive Cat Food Review In 2024 - Cats.com
Asisn Massage Near Me
Southern Blotting: Principle, Steps, Applications | Microbe Online
Inloggen bij AH Sam - E-Overheid
How to Choose Where to Study Abroad
Qvc Com Blogs
Dinargurus
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Jonah Leffler

Last Updated:

Views: 6209

Rating: 4.4 / 5 (45 voted)

Reviews: 92% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Jonah Leffler

Birthday: 1997-10-27

Address: 8987 Kieth Ports, Luettgenland, CT 54657-9808

Phone: +2611128251586

Job: Mining Supervisor

Hobby: Worldbuilding, Electronics, Amateur radio, Skiing, Cycling, Jogging, Taxidermy

Introduction: My name is Jonah Leffler, I am a determined, faithful, outstanding, inexpensive, cheerful, determined, smiling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.