Multinational esports organisation Team Liquid has expanded into Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) after acquiring Southeast Asian esports organisation STUN.GG and its esports properties AURA Esports and ECHO Esports.
As a result of the purchase, AURA Esports and ECHO Esports will be rebranded to Team Liquid ID and Team Liquid PH, respectively.
Both teams compete in the Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) ecosystem, MLBB’s tier-one circuit, which includes franchised leagues MPL Indonesia and MPL Philippines.
ECHO has recorded the most success out of the two divisions, winning the M4 World Championship and MPL Philippines Season 11 in 2023. AURA Esports’ highest positions in MPL Indonesia are consecutive third-place finishes in 2022 (MPL ID Season 9 and 10). The social media following of ECHO and AURA across multiple platforms totals over 10m followers.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is one of the biggest mobile esports titles in the world, with its viewership figures comparing, and sometimes beating, established MOBA esports titles such as League of Legends and Dota 2. In 2023, five of the top 10 most-viewed esports events were MLBB tournaments (excluding Chinese viewership). This includes MPL Indonesia Season 11 and 12 recording peak figures of 1.89m and 2.1m viewers.
Team Liquid’s rebranding of the AURA Esports and ECHO Esports teams will occur ahead of the next season of MPL Indonesia and MPL Philippines.
Financial details of the acquisition have not been revealed.
According to a release, the existing staff of AURA and ECHO will join Team Liquid’s global business. Moreover, the organisation noted that the purchase will provide the STUN.GG’s properties with more resources to grow in Southeast Asia, now under Team Liquid’s banner.
Victor Goossens, Co-CEO of Team Liquid, commented: “We have always admired the intensity and loyalty of fans in Indonesia and the Philippines, which we’ve experienced firsthand in esports events in the past.
“When we saw an opportunity to strengthen our presence in Southeast Asia with these incredible competitive teams, we knew we had to do it with an organisation built with the same values and philosophy as our own. We found that partner in the staff and fans of AURA/ECHO.”
