It’s back with a bang
After hosting some of the world’s best Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) players at the M2 World Championship last month, Singapore will stage its first-ever independent MLBB professional league this year, Singtel said yesterday.
The first season of the MLBB Professional League (MPL Singapore), which has a prize pool of up to $100,000, is presented by Singtel’s PVP Esports and the game’s developer Moonton.
The launch of MPL Singapore means that there will be separate competitions for the top MLBB teams from Singapore and Malaysia. Previously, teams from the two countries competed in a competition called MPL MYSG.
Robert “Oh Deer Bambi” Boon, 23, from e-sports team Kingsmen, believes having a stand-alone MLBB league in Singapore will give local players more opportunities to compete. He said: “It actually showcases the growth of our local e-sports scene in the past few years. With Mobile Legends taking the first step of having its own independent league here, hopefully other games will follow suit.”
As the offline event for MPL MYSG was usually held in Malaysia, it made it harder for players from Singapore to travel because of work or school commitments. The undergraduate, who has participated in four MPL MYSG seasons, added: “There are many undiscovered talents in Singapore and MPL Singapore gives them that platform to shine.”
Fellow e-sports player Lim “ly4ly4ly4” Yang, 27, who is from RSG, said he will miss competing against the Malaysian teams.
He added: “The other countries have their own domestic leagues… so I’m happy that we have our own identity now. I believe that having our own pro league will motivate more local players to strive harder to break into the pro scene.”
Qualifiers for MPL Singapore are scheduled to take place next month and eight teams – six invited and the top two from the qualifiers – will participate in the regular season play-offs in April and May. The qualifiers will be held online and a hybrid model is being evaluated for future events.
Winners of MPL Singapore will advance to Moonton’s regional and global MLBB tournaments.
Last month’s US$300,000 (S$401,230) M2 World Championship, one of the first international tournaments in Singapore this year, was held behind closed doors at the Shangri-La Hotel.
It ran into an early hurdle just days before the start when three players from DreamMax tested positive for Covid-19. But the Jan 18-24 event proceeded with no other coronavirus cases and the Brazilian team competed while isolating in their hotel rooms.
Registration for the MPL Singapore closes on Feb 21. Get more details from pvpesports.gg/mplsg