These eight MOBAs have tried, but ultimately failed. Which one do you miss the most?
For gamers, MOBAs have long been a complement to MMOs or shooters. After the tremendous success of the titans Dota and League of Legends, it is no surprise that other developers want a piece of the MOBA pie. After all, it is a highly attractive genre.
News and stories about the games are often generated by the gamers themselves. The meta changes from patch to patch, and hopefully perfect gameplay keeps the MOBA fresh for a long time.
This means that developers hardly have to write stories or develop complex raids to keep the game alive. They can focus on new heroes and balancing, while also earning money through skins or other microtransactions.
Many have tried
It didn’t take long for the market to be flooded with MOBAs (something similar will probably happen now with battle royale modes). A few of them have a constant player base and regularly entertain their community. We think of Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm or Smite by Hi-Rez.
A few new games in the MOBA field had a promising start but soon lost regular players and ultimately went under. For others, the core concept looked critical from the beginning.
We want to present to you here eight MOBAs that unfortunately did not make the leap to top game status, but have disappeared from the scene.
1. Paragon – Fans even tried to keep it alive artificially
Developed by Epic Games, Paragon wanted to take off in the MOBA genre. The Free2Play system and regular updates initially sounded promising, but then Paragon quickly fell victim to a vicious cycle. Within a short time after launch, player numbers were low.
This then affected the matchmaking and extended the search time for opponents. This, in turn, frustrated players and the numbers continued to drop.
Then in late 2016, the major Monolith update came, which briefly brought momentum to Paragon, but ultimately alienated veterans who preferred the “old” Paragon.
And by the end of 2017, the star of Fortnite: Battle Royale rose, the new hit from Epic Games, overshadowing Paragon.
In August 2016, the open beta phase of Paragon started. On April 26, 2018, the game will be discontinued and players will receive refunds for all purchases. A loyal player base holds on to the MOBA and wants to keep it alive with a petition.
With their version of battle royale, Epic Games is now smashing it with Fortnite.
2. Cloud Pirates – Not even half a year
Cloud Pirates was a somewhat different MOBA. With airship battles, it left an impression on many players. The combat ships could be upgraded, but the grind factor quickly became a negative.
In April 2017, the air combat game launched as a free-to-play title. Not even half a year later, My.com then announced that Cloud Pirates will be discontinued on September 29, 2017.
There were no official reasons, but it is suspected that the weak player numbers caused the game to die. Here too, the developers offered to refund purchases made (made after July 12).
Cloud Pirates is closed, but released one last update before that
3. Gigantic – Hope dies last
The action game Gigantic has had an exciting journey, which unfortunately did not end with a happy ending. The game combined MOBA and team shooter and looked great. However, development delays and platform changes made the launch difficult right from the start.
And Blizzard didn’t really want to give its team shooter Overwatch much room for competition either.
Gigantic has been declared dead twice but somehow managed to stay afloat. Recently, only a core team took care of Gigantic, but that will now come to an end. On July 31, 2018, Gigantic will be discontinued.
4. Master X Master – No space for niche games?
The mix of MOBA and co-op was unfortunately granted only a short lifespan. The end of Master X Master was announced just 6 months after launch.
The game offered a lot of variety through its game modes. Perhaps that was a reason for the dwindling players, as MXM couldn’t quite pin itself down to one thing.
Master X Master wanted to launch as a niche game and charm the fans, but that unfortunately did not work out. On January 31, 2018, MXM was discontinued.
5. Infinite Crisis – MOBA market is saturated
Developer Turbine wanted to make a splash with this DC superhero MOBA. But this bubble burst quickly – after the release in March 2015, the end was announced three months later, in June.
Until August 14, 2015, players could still play the game for free, but then it was over.
In development, the team would have grown to face the difficult tasks, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. In the MOBA market, there simply wasn’t room for Infinite Crisis in 2015.
6. Dawngate – EA tried
With Dawngate, Electronic Arts wanted to carve its way into the MOBA genre. Developed by Waystone Games, Dawngate was a rather classic MOBA. With lanes, heroes, junglers, minions, and typical content.
The test phase started in May 2013 and could not attract enough people. In November 2014, Dawngate was quietly discontinued.
7. Lord of Vermilion: Arena – The complicated resurrection
With “LOVA” Square Enix took a step towards MOBA, but that didn’t last long and was hardly known here. The game was already announced in 2015, mixing MOBA elements with a card game. The result was rather mediocre, as the title did not achieve overwhelming popularity. In 2016, the game shut down…
… but was announced again in 2017 as a remake. While some elements of the core game were retained, visually it adapted to other MOBAs. And that did not sit well with some fans.
The remake of Lord of Vermilion Arena is still ongoing. After it was resurrected from the dead, it secures a special place on our list.
8. Warhammer 40k: Dark Nexus Arena
Does anyone still remember this game? Indie developer Whitebox Interactive worked for Microsoft and produced the game for Windows systems. As the name suggests, it was set in the Warhammer 40k universe. It was played with 4v4 deathmatch mechanics.
In May 2015, Warhammer 40k Dark Nexus Arena entered early access and was supposed to be released in 2016. After more than a year in beta, however, they ultimately pulled the plug and discontinued development before the game was released.
Have you played any MOBAs from this list and do you miss them? What alternative are you playing now?
