The 2024 esports roadmap for the mobile MOBA game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has been unveiled with a notable change made to one of the title’s most popular tournaments.
The announcement was headlined by the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup being renamed to the Mid-Season Cup. The newly named event will add more regions, increase its prize pool, and be located outside of SEA for the first time.
Interestingly, the event was previously also called the MSC, but that abbreviation stood for MLBB Southeast Asia Cup. From this year, it will stand for Mid Season Cup. The event is one of the most popular esports events of the year, not just in MLBB. The latest edition of the MSC, held in mid-2023, saw more than 3.6m peak viewers and more than 40m hours watched, according to data platform Esports Charts.
Although details about the updates to the tournament are slim, the organisers shared that 2024 will see the newly rebranded event take place outside of Southeast Asia for the first time in its history. MOONTON, the developer of MLBB, noted that “the cup will be held outside Southeast Asia for the first time, with more participating regions, including China, and a larger prize pool.”
With MOONTON setting its sights on the MENA region recently, the newly-refreshed MSC might take place in that region this year, however, no official confirmation has been made.
The inclusion of China follows a similar decision regarding the M5 World Championship which concluded in December 2023 and saw Chinese teams participate for the first time ever. The best-placed Chinese team at the tournament was Fire Flux Esports, which finished the tournament seventh. In total, 14 regions will officially participate in MLBB tournaments in 2024.
In addition to revamping the MSC, MOONTON announced that 2024 will see the highest number of official MLBB tournaments to date, including the likes of the Snapdragon Pro Series, MLBB Women’s Invitational, and others. There are also new leagues planned, with the most interesting one being the MLBB Academy League, a second-tier official league in Malaysia.
