<![CDATA[Academic pressure during the preparation of the final thesis and the lack of real social interaction in the campus environment are the background of this research. These operational problems trigger excessive emotional distress that encourages students to escape into uncontrolled cyber activities. The main focus of this scientific study is to dissect and empirically test the relationship between loneliness and the tendency to be addicted to the online game Mobile Legends in final year students. The steps of this quantitative descriptive correlational research path are operated through purposive sampling of 140 active respondents at Mulawarman University with the criteria of playing duration exceeding four hours per day. The field data collection procedure was collected through the distribution of standardized Likert scale questionnaires, which were then executed using the Pearson Product Moment correlation analysis technique assisted by SPSS software version 27. Quantitative data empirically revealed a positive and significant relationship with the achievement of a correlation coefficient value of r of 0.488 at a significance parameter p less than 0.05. The test results proved that the majority of subjects were in the very high addiction category reaching 66.4 percent and a very high level of loneliness at 50.7 percent. The main conclusion confirms that feelings of emptiness due to limited real-life social relationships have been shown to significantly accelerate virtual world addiction. Academic practitioners are recommended to draft consistent emotion regulation counseling strategies. ABSTRAK Tekanan akademik selama penyusunan tugas akhir skripsi serta minimnya interaksi sosial nyata di lingkungan kampus melatarbelakangi penelitian ini. Masalah operasional tersebut memicu timbulnya distres emosional berlebih yang mendorong mahasiswa melarikan diri ke aktivitas siber secara tidak terkontrol. Fokus utama kajian ilmiah ini adalah membedah dan menguji secara empiris hubungan antara kesepian dengan kecenderungan kecanduan game online Mobile Legends pada mahasiswa tingkat akhir. Langkah-langkah jalur riset kuantitatif deskriptif korelasional ini dioperasikan melalui penarikan sampel secara purposive sampling terhadap 140 responden aktif di Universitas Mulawarman dengan kriteria durasi bermain melebihi empat jam per hari. Prosedur pengumpulan data lapangan dihimpun lewat penyebaran kuesioner skala Likert terstandardisasi, yang selanjutnya dieksekusi menggunakan teknik analisis korelasi Product Moment Pearson berbantuan perangkat lunak SPSS versi 27. Data kuantitatif secara empiris menyingkap adanya hubungan positif dan signifikan dengan capaian nilai koefisien korelasi r sebesar 0,488 pada parameter signifikansi p kurang dari 0,05. Hasil pengujian membuktikan bahwa mayoritas subjek berada pada kategori kecanduan sangat tinggi mencapai 66,4 persen dan tingkat kesepian sangat tinggi sebesar 50,7 persen. Simpulan utama menegaskan bahwa perasaan hampa akibat keterbatasan relasi sosial nyata terbukti kuat mempercepat adiksi dunia virtual. Praktisi akademis direkomendasikan merancang draf strategi konseling regulasi emosi secara konsisten. ]]>
