MOONTON Games (a wholly owned subsidiary of ByteDance, which also owns TikTok) announced that Mobile Legends: Bang Bang will be part of the Esports World Cup. The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup (MSC) and the MLBB Women’s Invitational (MWI) will venture outside Southeast Asia for the first time to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this summer. Teams from “14 international regions and over 35 countries” will compete for a total prize pool of more than $3M USD, and MSC 2024 will also feature the “wild card” format that was showcased in the 2023 M5 World Championship.
Teams making the stage in Riyadh will secure their spots by winning in their respective regions:
- MPL Indonesia Season 13 – two slots: Champion & Runner-up
- MPL Philippines Season 13 – two slots: Champion & Runner-up
- MPL MENA Season 5 – two slots: MPL MENA Champion & highest ranking MPL MENA KSA team
- MPL Malaysia Season Season 13 – one slot: Champion
- MPL Singapore Season 7 – one slot: Champion
- MPL Cambodia Spring 2024 – one slot: Champion
- Myanmar Qualifier – one slot: Champion
- NACT 2024 Spring Fall – one slot: Champion
- MCC (MLBB Continental Championships) Season 3 – one slot: Champion
- MTC (MLBB Türkiye Championship) Season 3 – one slot: Champion
- MPL LATAM – one slot: Champion
- CN Qualifier – one slot: Champion
- MSC 2024 Wild Card – one slot: First Place
MWI 2024 will also feature an expanded prize pool of $500K and 12 participating regions and countries: Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia & Singapore, China, the Middle East & North Africa, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, the Mekong Region (Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam), Brazil, and North America. Both events will take place at the Esports World Cup from July 1 -14.
The inclusion of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in the Esports World Cup is not surprising, as MOONTON Games CEO Justin Yaun was in attendance when HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (MBS) announced the Esports World Cup and the Esports World Cup Foundation in October at the New Global Sport Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Esports World Cup Foundation and its inaugural event are funded by the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).