Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Invitational set for Jakarta

ONE Championship’s ONE Esports subsidiary has announced a Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Invitational event for Moonton’s iOS and Android MOBA game.

Online regional qualifiers for the $150,000 (£116,490) international competition will begin on May 2nd, with the finals event set to take place in Jakarta, Indonesia from July 1st-5th.

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Carlos Alimurung, CEO of ONE Esports, commented in a release: “Southeast Asia is at the vanguard of mobile esports, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has nurtured and grown one of the healthiest esports communities in the world. We will not only provide the community with opportunities to compete against the best Mobile Legends: Bang Bang teams, but also execute a world-class competition series that engages and wows esports fans.”

The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Invitational will be the first of two tournaments for the game put on in collaboration between ONE Esports and Moonton in 2020. The venue for this first event has yet to be announced.

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Lucas Mao, Director of Operations of Moonton, added: “We are really excited about this collaboration with ONE Esports. Their track record in producing story-driven sports production gives us the confidence to go into a longer collaboration where we will feature not one but two regional invitational tournaments in 2020. We wholly believe that this partnership with ONE Esports will further expedite our long-term goal of building a sustainable and dynamic esports ecosystem.”

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang debuted in 2016 and has amassed more than 500 million downloads to date. The game’s esports scene has thrived in Asia, including with a Mobile Legends Professional League in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Mobile Legends was also included in 2019’s Southeast Asian Games.

Esports Insider says: Mobile Legends doesn’t have the backing of a giant like Tencent, but this mobile MOBA keeps chugging along, especially in Southeast Asia. Sounds like Moonton is keen to keep its esports scene thriving in 2020 with this ONE Esports partnership.

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