Malaysia’s longest-running esports league returns for its 13th season this week. Organised by MOONTON Games and IO Esports, and supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) and Esports Integrated (ESI), Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Malaysia will offer the nation’s two teams the opportunity to compete for the life-changing RM14 million (US$3 million) prize pool at the Mid Season Cup (MSC) 2024, held in conjunction with the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 28 June to 14 July 2024.

The Season 13 champions will earn direct qualification to the MSC 2024 Main Stage, while the first runner-up will proceed to the MSC 2024 Wild Card. MPL Malaysia will feature a prize pool (US$100,000) of RM468,000.

MPL Malaysia is collaborating with regulatory stakeholders and organisations to introduce a host of new initiatives this season to level up the competitiveness, professionalism, and inclusivity of the league. This includes the alignment of the MPL Malaysia rule book to KBS’s recently-launched National Esports Development Guideline (NESDEG) to further empower league stakeholders.

In line with the league’s vision to keep esports accessible to everyone, Season 13 will continue to offer free admission to all fans. Admission will be by walk-in only, with seats available on a first-come-first-served basis. To strengthen the community spirit, Season 13 will see the return the “Fan of the Season” campaign, which will give fans the chance to win a big prizes by attending MPL Malaysia matches and completing simple tasks such as interacting with players.

Fikri Rizal Mahruddin, Head of Marketing and Business Development, MOONTON Games, said:

“MPL Malaysia has come a long way to become the leading competitive esports ecosystem in Malaysia, but there is still much to do this year to achieve our vision of making #EsportsForEveryone. Through close discussion and collaboration with knowledge experts and regulatory stakeholders, we continue to explore new and innovative opportunities for Malaysians to experience and benefit from esports.”

Two new teams raring to go

Bountee Esports and Monster Vicious advanced through the MPL Malaysia Season 13 Qualifiers to join Season 12’s top eight teams in the Season 13 Regular Season. They will be looking to replicate the miracle Team HAQ performed in Season 10, where they took the title in their first season after progressing through the Qualifiers.

Based in Sarawak, Bountee Esports will be looking to their trump card, Nik “Dominus” Muhyyiddin, who returns to the competitive scene after a 2-year hiatus. The 23-year-old mid-laner is a veteran in the MLBB esports scene – he lifted the championship in Season 3 with Geek Fam MY and represented Malaysia at the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup 2019.

Monster Vicious will be looking to leave their reputation for loaning their players out to MPL Malaysia teams behind this season. The Malaysia Esports League 2023 (MEL23) champions are raring to carve out a name for themselves in the professional scene after previously failing to progress through the Season 10 Qualifiers.

The full list of 10 title hopefuls this season is:

• HomeBois
• TODAK
• RSG Malaysia
• NINERS (previously MPX NSEA)
• Barracuda Esports
• King Empire
• Selangor Red Giants
• Team HAQ
• Bountee Esports
• Monster Vicious

HomeBois Breaks Malaysia’s Transfer Record For An Esports Athlete

With the MYR 14 million prize pool at MSC 2024 on the line, Season 12’s teams have strengthened in the off-season. This includes last season’s champions, HomeBois, who smashed the national transfer record for an esports athlete after bringing in Indonesian player, Muhammad “Udil” Ardiansyah, from the Indonesian team, Alter Ego Esports, for MYR 330,000.

MPL Malaysia Season 13 Regular Season Schedule

The Season 13 Regular Season will feature 10 of the nation’s top Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) teams. The Regular Season will run every weekend from 29 March to 12 May, except for the Hari Raya Puasa weekend, and will follow a single round-robin format, with each game to be a Best-Of-Three (BO3). The Regular Season will be followed by the Playoffs, where the top eight teams will compete for the crown.

All of Season 13’s matches will be played at the Home of MPL Malaysia, Stadium MBSJ Serdang Jaya. The venue will accommodate an expanded capacity of 1,000 pax, up from 600 in Season 12.

Last season witnessed the Cinderella story of HomeBois, who secured their first championship title despite making only their first appearance in an MPL Malaysia Grand Final. The summit clash was the most-watched in MPL Malaysia history, attracting more than 550,000 peak concurrent viewers, according to Esports Charts. HomeBois went on to represent Malaysia at the M5 World Championship, where they crashed out of the group stages in their first international appearance.

All games will be streamed live on the MPL Malaysia Facebook page and the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang channels. Please refer to Appendix A for the full match schedule.

Stay up to speed with MPL Malaysia Season 13 updates and action with Hotlink. Hotlink’s 5G network provides unmatched network latency with affordable plans in the spirit of making the internet more accessible to offer the best MLBB gaming experience. Fans should not miss out on the chance to win exclusive in-game items and merchandise by visiting the Hotlink booth at the stadium. This season also brings strategic partners ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) and Nescafe.

To stay up to date on MPL Malaysia, please check out the Official Website and like/follow the league on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.