( 2018) posited that Malaysian youth with excessive mobile device usage could negatively influence their self-control to combat addictive gaming tendencies. This prolonged mobile usage has induced adverse consequences on physical health, such as migraines, vision difficulties, obesity, musculoskeletal pain, and other physical discomforts. ( 2020) revealed that Malaysian youth spend more time engaging with mobile gaming applications. For instance, 35% of Malaysian online players have experienced playing the most popular MOBA game (e.g., Mobile Legends: Bang Bang) in the past 6 months.Īn online survey by Statista ( 2021b) reported that 42% of Malaysian youth play mobile games daily. In Malaysia’s market, the MOBA genre is the most popular. Malaysia is one of the significant countries that make up the majority of the SEA game market. Expectedly, the gaming companies would invest more resources in obtaining more mobile dominance and market share. The mobile-first in SEA’s gaming industry reveals its high growth potential. Mobile game revenues achieved the highest, which account for 69.4% compared to personal computers (22.3%) and consoles (8.3%). Newzoo ( 2020) reported that the surge in Southeast Asia (SEA) smartphone users has led SEA to become one of the fastest-growing mobile games markets globally, particularly with 17.4% of year-on-year growth. The popular MOBA gaming apps include Honor of Kings, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Leagues of Legends, Pokémon UNITE, Onmyoji Arena, and Arena of Valor. It is also a sub-genre that originated from a modified version of real-time strategy (RTS) (Silva et al., 2017). Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is one of the popular genres which incorporated cooperative and competitive elements. Among the various mobile games’ genres, the most played mobile game genres worldwide are cooperative and multiplayer (Statista, 2021a). Newzoo ( 2022) has also reported that mobile game revenues account for 52% of the global gaming market, signifying that the mobile gaming industry is booming drastically with its expeditious innovation. The gaming industry is a significant revenue generator, bringing players worldwide to work through tournaments, leagues, and competitions (Straits Research, 2020). Therefore, future prevention and intervention programs should cultivate positive mental strength for youth while meeting their basic needs. MOBA players who were frustrated while fulfilling their basic needs may succumb to uncontrollable gaming behavior. However, fantasy and recreation motives were not significant mediators. Social, escape, competition, coping, and skill motives were significant mediators for the association between need frustration and IGD.
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The findings showed that need frustration positively predicted IGD. A total of 398 mobile MOBA gamers aged 18 to 29 participated in this cross-sectional online survey study. The present study examined the (1) predictive role of need frustration on Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and (2) mediating effect of gaming motives. Inadequate local studies investigated the risk factors of excessive MOBA gameplay. However, MOBA games are highly addictive and have negative impacts on adult development. Playing mobile MOBA games has become a popular leisure activity among Malaysian youth.