when several developers released or announced their hero shooter multiplayer online game. Hero shooters have been considered to have strong potential as an esport, as a large degree of skill and coordination arises from the importance of teamwork. Some notable examples include Battleborn, Overwatch, Paladins and Valorant. Real-time strategy game (RTS) Early real-time strategy games often allowed multiplayer play over a modem or local network. As the Internet started to grow during the 1990s, software was developed that would allow players to tunnel the LAN protocols used by the games over the Internet. By the late 1990s, most RTS games had native Internet support, allowing players from all over the globe to play with each other. Popular RTS games with online communities have included Age of Empires, Sins of a Solar Empire, StarCraft and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. Massively multiplayer online game (MMO) Massively multiplayer online games were made possible with the growth of broadband Internet access in many developed countries, using the Internet to allow hundreds of thousands of players to play the same game together. Many different styles of massively multiplayer games are available, such as: MMORPG (Massively multiplayer online role-playing game) MMORTS (Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy) MMOFPS (Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter) MMOSG (Massively multiplayer online social game) Multiplayer online battle arena game (MOBA) A specific subgenre of strategy video games referred to as multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) gained popularity in the 2010s as a form of electronic sports, encompassing games such as the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III, League of Legends, Dota 2, Smite, and Heroes of the Storm. Major esports professional tournaments are held in venues that can hold tens of thousands of spectators and are streamed online to millions more. A strong fanbase has opened up the opportunity for sponsorship and advertising, eventually leading the genre to become a global cultural phenomenon. Battle Royale games A battle royale game is a genre that blends the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game with last-man-standing gameplay. Dozens to hundreds of players are involved in each match, with the winner being the last player or team alive. Some notable examples include PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Fortnite Battle Royale, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty: Warzone, each having received tens of millions of players within months of their releases. The genre is designed exclusively for multiplayer gameplay over the Internet. MUD