Mobile Legends: Bang Bang launches in China, Invictus Gaming joins esports ecosystem

Chinese esports organisation Invictus Gaming (IG) has announced the creation of its own Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) division which will compete in the new Chinese League.

The announcement coincided with the launch of MLBB in China by game publisher MOONTON during the World Championship Challenge, a showmatch in Shanghai.

MOONTON also announced a strategic partnership with Chinese smartphone brand Realme, as the latter will be the official equipment provider of its MLBB tournament in China.

Invictus Gaming has joined the global Mobile Legends: Bang Bang esports ecosystem and the new Chinese MLBB league will be structured through franchise slots. This means that participating organisations will gain access to revenue shares from the game publisher.

The best-performing team from the Chinese qualifier will be able to take part in the upcoming Mobile Masters MLBB 2025 in Jakarta, Indonesia, from April 11th to 13th.

MLBB is entering the Chinese market where its greatest competitor, Honor of Kings, counts over 130m players. In comparison, MLBB has over 600m downloads worldwide, mainly concentrated in the SEA regions. The game was briefly banned in the United States, in tandem with ByteDance’s TikTok, but it was lifted shortly after.

After a few years of struggle, IG completely restructured for the 2025 season, with live streaming platform Huya and multi-channel network (MCN) company Young Sports joining the organisation as the new investors.

Aside from MLBB, Invictus Gaming holds a spot in the League of Legends Professional League (LPL), bringing together a roster of seasoned veterans, including the 2018 world champions Kang ‘TheShy’ Seung-lok and Song ‘Rookie’ Eui-jin.