Esports tournament organiser and media company ONE Esports has announced that the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Invitational will make its return in 2023 (MPLI 2023).
The event will take place in November 2023, and will be the first MPLI event to take place on LAN, after the previous three online-only editions.
The MPLI is a tournament organised jointly by MLBB developer MOONTON and ONE Esports. The tournament gathers the best-ranked MLBB teams in the world to compete for a prize pool which will be $100,000 this year. The 2022 edition saw the MPL champions in Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines compete, and Indonesian team Alter Ego take the trophy.
ONE Esports is a well-known esports and media company in Southeast Asia. The company is the official media partner for PUBG esports, and a media partner for the LCK. Apart from that, the company also organises events, such as the SEA VALORANT Invitational.
The previous editions of the MPLI garnered impressive viewership, with the 2022 edition peaking at around 700,000 viewers and the 2021 edition doing even better, with a peak viewership of more than 1.7m people, according to esports data platform Esports Charts.
The organisers did not share any specific details for the tournament, other than the dates. The format, invited teams, venue and other information will be available at a later date.
Carlos Alimurung, CEO of ONE Esports, said: “We are proud to continue the tradition of MPLI. This year, we are taking it to the next level by transitioning to an offline event, which promises to deliver an unforgettable esports experience for the MLBB community. The ONE Esports MPL Invitational 2023 represents the commitment of ONE Esports to elevate esports by creating world-class events and fostering the growth of the esports community.”
