Esports tournament organiser and media company ONE Esports has announced that its upcoming MPL Invitational (MPLI) 2023 will feature teams from outside of Southeast Asia for the first time.
The offline $100,000 (~£81,300) Mobile Legends: Bang Bang event will see the participation of teams from North America (NA), the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and China.
As a result of the change, the winner of MPL MENA Fall 2023 will now receive an invitation to ONE Esports MPLI 2023 as well as the M5 World Championship. The competition’s US representative will be TheOhioBrothers after the team finished first in NACT Fall 2023. The Chinese representative for the event has yet to be disclosed.
Taking place in November, the ONE Esports MPLI 2023 will feature 16 teams, 13 of which will consist of top Mobile Legends teams from its SEA ecosystem. This includes 10 teams from MOONTON Games’ franchised leagues — MPL Indonesia (six) and MPL Philippines (four).
After three online editions, this is the first MPLI event to take place on LAN. The tournament’s Playoffs and Grand Finals will take place at the GBK Basketball Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Hosted by MOONTON and One Esports, MPLI has become a staple of the Mobile Legends esports ecosystem in recent years. Last year’s event, which took place around the same time, recorded over 700,000 peak viewers, according to Esports Charts.
Carlos Alimurung, CEO, ONE Esports, commented: “Every year, we strive to broaden the horizons of MPLI, and this year is no exception. We are thrilled to introduce the first-ever offline edition of MPLI and extend a warm invitation to teams from NA, MENA, and China.
“We look forward to working closely with MOONTON Games to unite the global MLBB community and create an MPLI experience that is more international and competitive than ever before.”
ONE Esports MPLI 2023’s announcement follows on from the M5 World Championship — set to take place in December — also revealing that a Chinese team will be represented at the tournament. One of Mobile Legends’ regional leagues, MPL Malaysia, also recently concluded its latest season, once again registering record viewership numbers.
