Team Vitality has acquired Southeast Asian esports organisation Bigetron Esports, a notable PUBG Mobile team and a founding member of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s MPL Indonesia.
The move was part of Vitality’s ambition to grow into one of the world’s biggest esports organisations.
Ahead of today’s announcement, Esports Insider spoke with Team Vitality and Bigetron to discuss the importance of mobile esports and the Southeast Asian market as well as the next steps for both brands.
What will happen to Bigetron Esports?
Bigetron Esports was founded in 2017 by Edwin Chia, who has served as CEO since. Within eight years, the organisation has established itself as one of the major entities in the Southeast Asian esports ecosystem.
Bigetron has over 6.8m followers across its social media and four mobile esports rosters in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), PUBG Mobile, Free Fire and Honor of Kings. It also developed a successful women’s MLBB team, which was already acquired by Team Vitality in May last year.
The organisation’s notable accolades include winning the PUBG Mobile Club Open – Fall Split Global Finals in 2019 and regular high placements in MLBB’s MPL Indonesia since the league’s formation in 2028. As of this writing, Bigetron Esports sits in fourth place and the competition has already reached peak viewing figures of 2m.
Following the merger with the French organisation, Bigetron’s roster will join Team Vitality’s existing esports lineup. In addition, Bigetron will contribute to Team Vitality’s stake in the region with Southeast Asian brand ambassadors and its ongoing relationships with MOONTON and Tencent.
While the mobile esports teams will compete at this year’s Esports World Cup (EWC) under the Team Vitality banner, the Southeast Asian organisation will otherwise rebrand to ‘Bigetron by Vitality’.
“Edwin has built a fantastic business which has a really strong community that loves and has an emotional connection with the brand,” commented Vas Roberts, Co-CEO at Team Vitality, when asked about the rebranding decision. “So you don’t want to disrupt that DNA or that tone of voice or how they communicate with them.”
Roberts added that although confident in their approach, his company will audit the community reaction to the rebrand.
In a similar vein, Team Vitality will maintain the leadership structure at Bigetron, with CEO Edwin Chia spearheading business operations in Indonesia. “We now have additional skill sets and knowledge from different regions,” said Roberts. “We can learn just as much from Bigetron as they can learn from us.”
Why Did Vitality Choose Bigetron Esports?
Pursuing the goal of becoming the largest esports organisation in the world requires expansion both geographically and within esports. This is especially crucial ahead of the Esports World Cup (EWC) in July, which will see esports organisations from around the globe represented in multiple titles.
Team Vitality’s primary goal in the short term is to add more games to its EWC lineup, increasing its chances of winning the multi-title event.
Danny Engels, Corporate Director of Global Operations at Vitality, explained why Bigetron is a unique partner in this regard: “There were not many organisations in Southeast Asia that have a footprint in of all of these games at the level where Bigetron is.”
However, the French organisation also sees a potential for profit in supporting the business Edwin Chia created. Since Team Vitality entered women’s MLBB last year, the two parties have collaborated successfully thanks to shared values and trust.
Roberts highlighted: “We are very good in our separate fields and we think collectively, we just go on to be bigger and better.”
Chia agreed with Roberts’ sentiment, explaining that Bigetron may also benefit from Vitality’s expertise and strategy.
“They can share [their expertise] with us and we can build something from there. For example, an academic team, the youth system, the structure of the esports division that we should be building,” noted Bigetron Esports’ Founder.
Additionally, the acquisition of Bigetron supports Team Vitality’s aim to become a global esports organisation with a strong stake in the SEA market.
“Bigetron were the best opportunity by far if we consider all those factors. So the right market, the right platform in terms of mobile and then the right brand department,” shared Roberts. “So for us, it was a pretty obvious choice as we look to grow internationally.”
The Importance of Southeast Asia and Mobile Esports
According to Roberts and Engles, Southeast Asia, and particularly Indonesia, is a key region for Team Vitality’s expansion strategy.
As highlighted by MPL Indonesia’s viewership statistics earlier, mobile esports is incredibly popular within the country. Unlike in the Western esports scene, mobile titles have become widely accepted among the Southeast Asian esports audience. The MLBB M6 World Championship was the second-most popular esports event last year with over 4m peak viewers, according to esports data platform Esports Charts.
Team Vitality aims to take a leading position in the adoption of mobile esports by Western esports organisations. In Mobile Legends alone, the likes of NAVI, Team Liquid, Team Falcons and Fnatic (albeit briefly) have entered the SEA market in recent years.
Team Vitality predicts mobile esports will become more relevant within the Western esports ecosystem as younger generations of consumers increasingly discover games through their mobile devices.
“And we are super happy to then already be at the heart of mobile esports in Southeast Asia and at the forefront of the western world jumping on the same hype train,” emphasised Engles.