MOONTON Games has partnered with ONE Esports, a subsidiary of ONE Championship, to host the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women’s Invitational (MWI).
The online tournament will feature up to ten women-led Southeast Asia teams, battling over three days beginning January 27, 2022 for a combined prize pool of $15,000 (around P753,000).
MWI will follow the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup tournament format. There will be invited teams from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. These include: Bren Esports, OMEGA Esports, IDNS Princess, IDNS Elsa, and Impunity Starlets1, with more to be announced.
How MLBB Women's Invitational will work
Ten teams will be divided into Group A and Group B via random allocation and compete with those within their group. Each team will be ranked based on the total accumulated points from their respective matches, and the top four teams in each group will proceed to the playoffs.
The online tournament serves as a competitive platform to empower women, encouraging them to showcase their skills, not as female players but as individuals. With the theme #InControl, players in MWI will have the spotlight of an officially sanctioned international tournament.
Through MWI, Moonton and ONE Esports aim to empower and celebrate women in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang esports ecosystem with a platform to compete and showcase their skills, passion, and achievements.
According to ONE Esports’ research, the female gaming and esports community is one of the fastest growing segments due to the widespread adoption of mobile phones and the proliferation of the video streaming market. Today, female fans account for 49 percentof the gaming and esports market in Southeast Asia.
“We are delighted to kick off 2022 with an important event such as MWI, and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with ONE Esports to bring this tournament to life," said Lucas Mao, managing director of global esports at Moonton.
Mao added: "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Esports is all-inclusive, with MWI empowering the existing cadre of female Mobile Legends: Bang Bang esports players to be in control of their destiny and highlight their skills. Moreover, we hope that the competition also inspire the next generation of players to follow in their footsteps – regardless of diversity and background. We look forward to celebrating female strength and empowerment with MWI.”
For his part, Carlos Alimurung, CEO of One Esports, said, “At ONE Esports, our mission is to share and celebrate the stories of esports heroes who ignite the world with hope, strength, dreams, and inspiration. MWI was launched to celebrate inspirational female heroes and give them a platform to showcase their talents."
Meanwhile, Winda Earl of GPX Ladies, who's been playing ML for nearly five years, sees the MWI as a "a great opportunity for female players who are looking to pursue a career or journey in esports."
"Personally, this tournament is a dream come true for me, as it enables me to show to the community that the role of women in the esports scene has much room to grow," she said.
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