MOBA Network, the Swedish company that paid $4.55 million for gaming forum ResetEra in 2021, announced on December 22, 2025 that it’s initiating a strategic review to explore alternatives for enhancing shareholder value. The announcement came alongside news that the company will cease trading on the OTCQX Market as of January 1, 2026, a cost-cutting measure that signals serious financial trouble for the gaming community operator.
The strategic review will assess opportunities to optimize MOBA’s portfolio and capital allocation, with explicit mentions of potential asset divestments and portfolio simplification. Translation: everything is on the table, including selling off the gaming communities and platforms the company acquired over the past several years. For ResetEra members and users of MOBA’s other properties, this raises uncomfortable questions about what happens next.
The Numbers Tell a Brutal Story
MOBA Network’s stock performance has been catastrophic. According to Reddit discussions tracking the company’s decline, shares dropped 90% in just one month leading up to the announcement. Over a six-month period, the stock collapsed by 97%, reducing the company’s market value to roughly one-thirtieth of what it was half a year ago. Those kinds of numbers don’t inspire confidence among shareholders or raise hopes for the company’s future prospects.
The company’s Q1 2025 earnings revealed fundamental problems beyond just stock price movements. Revenue fell to 64 million Swedish kronor, missing market expectations and contributing to negative investor reactions. While MOBA cited global economic uncertainty and lower engagement with League of Legends products as contributing factors, the reality is that the company’s business model appears fundamentally broken.
CEO Anders Ribbing emphasized long-term vision during earnings calls, stating the company aims to become “the go-to destination for gamers and creators worldwide.” However, achieving that vision requires growth, and MOBA has struggled to demonstrate meaningful expansion despite owning 25 gaming communities and reaching 220 million gamers monthly according to their own metrics.
The ResetEra Acquisition That Never Made Sense
MOBA’s $4.55 million purchase of ResetEra in October 2021 raised eyebrows from the start. The gaming forum, founded in 2017 after staff and users broke away from NeoGAF following sexual misconduct allegations against that site’s owner, had approximately 55,000 members and generated around $700,000 in annual revenue at the time of acquisition. The company made money through advertising and ad-free subscriptions.
Reddit users discussing the announcement expressed bafflement that MOBA was ever publicly traded, with one commenter comparing it to “investing in shares of Gaia Online or something similar.” The fundamental question remains: why does an online forum need corporate ownership or venture capital backing? Most successful forums throughout internet history were operated by individuals or small teams without corporate structures or shareholder obligations.
The deal made even less sense considering ResetEra’s reputation for extremely strict moderation policies and rigorous account approval processes. While these practices created a tightly controlled community that some users appreciated, they also limited growth potential. Forums thrive on accessibility and organic community building, but ResetEra’s approach actively restricted who could join and participate. For a publicly traded company focused on user growth and advertising revenue, acquiring a deliberately exclusive platform represented a strategic mismatch.
What Did MOBA Think Would Happen?
MOBA’s press release at the time of acquisition painted an optimistic picture, stating they saw “serious opportunities to increase advertising revenue through a higher share of direct sales, implementation of new ad formats, and a long-term product development strategy.” CEO Bjorn Mannerqvist called ResetEra “one of the world’s largest gaming forum and community brands” with “great growth potential.”
That optimism appears to have been misplaced. Forums as a medium have been declining for years as social media platforms, Discord servers, and subreddits capture conversations that previously happened on dedicated forums. ResetEra faced competition not just from other gaming forums but from fundamentally different communication platforms that offer features forums can’t match, like real-time voice chat and seamless mobile experiences.
The business model for forum monetization has always been challenging. Aggressive advertising degrades user experience, driving members away. Subscription fees create barriers to participation. Intrusive video players and tracking technologies alienate privacy-conscious users. When dissatisfied users can easily migrate to a new forum with minimal effort or cost, retention becomes nearly impossible if the platform prioritizes revenue over community experience.
What Happens to ResetEra and Other Properties
MOBA’s statement emphasized that “during the strategic review, M.O.B.A. Network’s operations and overall strategy remain unchanged, and the company continues to execute on its business plan.” However, the explicit mention of potential asset divestments suggests some properties could be sold off to improve the company’s financial position.
For ResetEra specifically, a sale might actually represent the best possible outcome. When MOBA acquired the forum, founder Cerium assured the community that the new owners had “absolutely no desire to change the ResetEra community or its culture in any way” and would “stay in the background and only handle the business and logistical end of things.” A new buyer committed to maintaining that hands-off approach could provide financial stability without interfering with community dynamics.
The worst-case scenario would be MOBA simply shutting down unprofitable properties to cut losses. However, ResetEra reportedly remains profitable despite challenges, generating revenue through its subscription model and advertising. A profitable asset, even one with limited growth prospects, should attract buyers rather than facing closure.
MOBA’s other properties include community sites focused on specific games like League of Legends, DOTA, and various MMOs. The company’s flagship app Porofessor provides real-time insights for League of Legends players and recently launched a standalone version. These products have clearer monetization paths through subscription services and less reliance on declining advertising revenue compared to forums.
The Broader Lesson About Gaming Media
MOBA Network’s financial collapse illustrates a fundamental truth about gaming media and community platforms: not everything needs to be a venture-backed, publicly-traded growth business. Forums, fan wikis, strategy guides, and community sites served gamers for decades as passion projects or small businesses operated by individuals who understood and participated in the communities they served.
Attempting to roll these properties into corporate portfolios with shareholder obligations and growth mandates often destroys what made them valuable in the first place. Users tolerate ads and monetization from community members operating sites as side projects or small businesses. That same tolerance evaporates when corporate entities extract value to satisfy investors who view communities as data points on financial spreadsheets.
The decline of forums as a medium doesn’t mean communities no longer exist, it means they’ve migrated to platforms like Discord where barriers to entry are lower and feature sets better match modern expectations. Investing millions in aging forum software and declining user bases while expecting significant returns was always a questionable strategy at best.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is MOBA Network?
MOBA Network is a Swedish company that owns and operates gaming community platforms, in-game apps, and a multichannel network of video content creators. The company owns approximately 25 gaming communities including ResetEra, DotaFire, LeagueSpy, and the Porofessor app for League of Legends. It’s publicly listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market and was also trading on OTCQX until January 1, 2026.
Why did MOBA Network halt OTCQX trading?
The company stated it’s closely overseeing its cost structure as part of the strategic review process, and ceasing OTCQX trading effective January 1, 2026 is a cost-cutting measure. The stock will continue trading on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. The move suggests the company is reducing expenses wherever possible to improve its financial position.
Will ResetEra be shut down?
There’s no indication ResetEra faces immediate shutdown. The forum reportedly remains profitable despite challenges, and MOBA’s statement indicated operations continue unchanged during the strategic review. However, potential asset divestments mentioned in the announcement mean ResetEra could be sold to another buyer as part of portfolio simplification efforts.
How much did MOBA pay for ResetEra?
MOBA Network acquired ResetEra for $4.55 million in October 2021. At the time, the forum had approximately 55,000 members and generated around $700,000 in annual revenue through advertising and ad-free subscriptions. Many observers considered the purchase price excessive given the forum’s limited growth prospects and declining medium.
What does the strategic review mean?
A strategic review is corporate language for exploring all available options to improve financial performance and shareholder value. This can include selling individual assets, restructuring operations, seeking buyers for the entire company, or implementing significant cost reductions. MOBA specifically mentioned portfolio simplification and possible asset divestments, suggesting properties may be sold.
What other gaming properties does MOBA own?
Beyond ResetEra, MOBA operates communities focused on games like League of Legends, DOTA, and various MMOs. The company’s flagship product is Porofessor, an app providing real-time insights and recommendations for League of Legends players. MOBA also operates a network called Union for Gamers connecting video content creators with brand partnerships and monetization opportunities.
Why did MOBA’s stock crash so hard?
Multiple factors contributed to the stock collapse including declining revenue that missed market expectations, lower engagement with key products especially those related to League of Legends, challenges monetizing forum properties, and broader skepticism about the viability of the business model. The stock dropped 90% in one month and 97% over six months, reducing market value to one-thirtieth of its previous level.
Conclusion
MOBA Network’s financial crisis and strategic review announcement represent the culmination of a fundamentally flawed business strategy: attempting to build a publicly traded growth company from aging forum properties and community sites that were never designed to generate the returns shareholders demand. The $4.55 million ResetEra acquisition looks increasingly like the symbol of everything wrong with this approach, overpaying for a deliberately exclusive forum operating in a declining medium with limited monetization options and hostile attitudes toward the aggressive growth tactics public companies require. Whatever emerges from this strategic review, whether asset sales, restructuring, or something else entirely, the situation serves as a cautionary tale about applying venture capital logic to community platforms that thrived precisely because they weren’t trying to maximize shareholder value. For ResetEra members and users of MOBA’s other properties, the coming months will determine whether new ownership brings stability or if years of community building get disrupted by corporate financial engineering. The irony is that many of these communities were doing just fine before corporate buyers arrived with millions of dollars and grand visions of building gaming media empires.