I still can't believe we call them 'MOBAs'

Heroes of the Storm image - Imperius — (Image credit: Blizzard)

One of media's god-given powers is to coin phrases, one of our last remaining superpowers. Inspired by this post from Kieron Gillen, I wanted to take a moment to recall our noble-but-failed attempt to rename MOBAs (a miserable term that describes every game and no game) more than a decade ago.

I am so out the loop that I have just learned folks use the phrase "imsim" now, and I'm tempted to come back to Games Journalism solely to kick everyone's asses.
— @kierongillen.bsky.social (@kierongillen.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-09-21T21:09:28.760Z

Just as Superman made the ultimate sacrifice against Doomsday, former PC Gamer editor Chris Thursten gave his editorial life to fix this awkwardly-named genre in his 2014 column, "Why I am deadly serious about the phrase 'wizard-'em-up.'"

We also tried "lane-pushing game" for a span, yikes. The media business requires one to place bets.

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Evan's a hardcore FPS enthusiast who joined PC Gamer way back in 2008. After an era spent publishing reviews, news, and cover features, he now oversees editorial operations for PC Gamer worldwide, including setting policy, training, and editing stories written by the wider team. His most-played FPSes are Hunt: Showdown, Team Fortress 2, Team Fortress Classic, Rainbow Six Siege, and Counter-Strike. His first multiplayer FPS was Quake 2, played on serial LAN in his uncle's basement, the ideal conditions for instilling a lifelong fondness for fragging.