Strife has a plan to beat LoL and Dota 2—and it might just work

If you have been paying attention to the gaming trends over the past few years, you will know for a fact that MOBA games have overtaken MMORPGs in terms of popularity. This is why it’s no surprise how many companies have tried to get into the MOBA industry to develop their own game to compete with the big two titles—Valve’s Dota 2 and Riot’s League of Legends (LoL).

S2 Games is no stranger to this competition with its earlier MOBA game Heroes of Newerth (HoN), which was once part of the big three MOBA titles with LoL and Warcraft III (WC3) DotA, but didn’t quite make the cut when Dota 2 entered the fray. Now, S2 Games is looking at once again entering the MOBA fray with its “second-generation MOBA”, Strife. In a recent visit to the Philippines by S2 Games’ Chief Operating Officer (COO) Scott Valencia, he talked more about the future of Strife and its journey of steering away from the shadows of Dota 2 and LoL.

(See: 10 things you need to know about Strife)

Strife as a MOBA game: the plan is to be the ball

Valencia made an interesting comparison of the MOBA genre to basketball. For basketball, the level of play is not dependent on the ball, but on who is playing it. Elementary students can play basketball using the same ball as NBA players use, but still play it on their own level and have as much fun as the pros do when they play for a crowd.

For MOBA games, however, Valencia notes that the opposite applies. Gamers are defined by the title they play. According to Valencia, Dota 2 players are mainly considered “hardcore” while LoL players are more “casual”. This is one thing that Strife is not trying to do. Whether gameplay is casual or hardcore is supposed to be decided by the player, not the game. Now of course this sounds nice, but how is Strife planning to do this? Valencia shares that the key is to listen to the playerbase and give them what they want. Instead of telling players how this game is played, give them freedom to play the game however they want.

In line with this, none of Strife’s heroes fit into one role. Instead, players are able to use these heroes according to their desired play style by crafting and enchanting items. Depending on how you customize an item, a hero may play the role of a support to a damage dealer to a tank when you need or want it to be.

You also have to select your hero first before queueing the game. Aside from reducing toxicity by not having to fight with other players over the hero you want to play, it also allows you to be matched with players who are just as skilled. If you’re playing Moxie for the first time, you won’t get matched with a person who has played a hundred games with Ace.

(See: 5 reasons why you’re probably not going to suck at Strife)