North America was a surprise omission from the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M7 World Championship slot allocation, and now MOONTON has revealed why.
In a statement on Instagram, the company gave an important update about the North America Challenger Tournament (NACT), the sole official MLBB tournament in the region. It said that the tournament has been concluded for 2025, with a planned 2026 return.
MOONTON said that this decision was being taken to build a more sustainable and globally integrated esports framework for the region.
“Our goal is to return in 2026 with a stronger, more inclusive system that reflects the growth and potential of MLBB in the region,” the company said.
“In the meantime, we will continue to support partner events throughout 2025.”
Therefore, MLBB fans in North America will get to see a new tournament in the region from next year onwards. For the remainder of 2025, third-party events could take place as MOONTON has promised to support the competitions.
MLBB Hits Turbulence in North America in 2025
2025 hasn’t been the best year for MLBB in the region. The game was first banned on January 19th under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA).
The PAFACA bans apps owned or controlled by companies from ‘foreign adversary nations’, like China-based Bytedance’s TikTok.
Notably, MOONTON is a subsidiary of Bytedance, which was the primary target in the PAFACA, leading to the game’s ban in the region as well.
While President Donald Trump signed an executive order a day later allowing TikTok and MLBB to come back, the game’s ban was still looming. This was because, as per Trump’s executive order, the deadline for apps to divest from foreign adversary ownership was only delayed by 75 days, until April 5th, 2025.
Later in March 2025, MOONTON shifted US publishing operations to a local company called Skystone, thus escaping the ban.
Despite this, troubles for the NACT were visible even before. The event’s spring edition in 2024 featured a $25,600 (~£18,900) prize pool and an offline grand final. The fall edition, however, was moved completely online, signalling lesser investment in the region.
This was further validated in the NACT Spring 2025 where only Diamonds were offered as prize money.
The tournament was also met with controversy as first-placed BTK were banned from competing in the Mid-Season Cup for participating in an event of MLBB’s rival title, Honor of Kings.
