Chapter 337: The Concept of MOBA Games
On the American server.
"I've never played an RTS game. The first game I ever got into was an OBA game."
This was a brand-new concept. MOBA is an abbreviation for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, which translates to "multiplayer online tactical competitive game."
In Chen Mo's previous life, MOBA games were a genre everyone knew well, but in the parallel world, this was still a completely unfamiliar term.
In fact, the term "MOBA" isn't very scientific. Literally speaking, the concept of "multiplayer online tactical competitive game" is far too broad. If you're just nitpicking the wording, even FPS games could be lumped into this category.
Originally, this concept was proposed as a way for *League of Legends* to "de-DotA-ize." Before that, all MOBA games were called "DotA-like games," which was an awkward label for promoting any MOBA game.
Moreover, compared to terms like FPS or RTS, "DotA-like" wasn't really a proper genre name.
That's how the term MOBA came about.
Leaving aside the purpose and origin of this name, it did play a very important role in promoting the game.
Although the term isn't precise or rigorous, no one could think of a better word to describe this type of game. It's not like they could call it a "three-lane hero tower-pushing game," right?
That would lack any sense of style.
Over time, as the term was used more and more, the concept of MOBA games became deeply ingrained in people's minds.
By promoting this term, Chen Mo wasn't just redefining a game genre; he was also creating a topic and a gimmick to give players a hint.
"MOBA games are something new, everyone, come and play!"
Whether a concept can become popular doesn't depend on how accurate the name is or whether players are satisfied with it, but on how hot the game is.
Take 3C, for example. That term is actually more scientific than MOBA—at least it tells you the game has three lanes. Then there's *Demigod*, which calls itself an ARTS. It sounds very professional, but it doesn't matter because those games weren't popular enough.
If *League of Legends* had called itself a "multiplayer blame-shifting, trash-talking, game-ruining pit," that concept would still have taken off and spread to all similar games in the future.
...
After the overseas version of *League of Legends* launched, it swept through the international market with strong momentum. On the first day, over 500,000 players logged in, and the day-two retention rate reached 68%.
Moreover, all the metrics were still growing.
This data was still impressive, leaving GA and domestic companies dumbfounded.
Raman Clive, a designer at COG, had always believed that the abnormally high retention rate of *League of Legends* in China must have had some trick to it. After all, this kind of game, like RTS games, has a certain skill barrier. It's normal for experts to dominate beginners, so how could the retention rate be this high?
But after the overseas version of *League of Legends* launched, GA had to accept the fact that the retention data for *League of Legends* was real, and its popularity was genuine.
Not just in China, but across the entire world—including the American server, European server, and Korean server—*League of Legends* had completely crushed COG!
Domestic game designers were also very surprised. *League of Legends* achieving such great results overseas was something they hadn't anticipated, especially given the significant differences between the domestic and international gaming markets.
Only then did they realize that Chen Mo's goal probably wasn't just to win the channel war. This time, he was really going to make a big splash!
Genius remembers this site address in one second: