MOONTON’s 20-year plan to globalize Mobile Legends

MOONTON Games presented a 20-year strategy for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang esports at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris. The plan names partnerships with SURGE in Western Europe and NODWIN Gaming across the Americas, includes a Championship Tour stop in Lima, Peru, and moves the M Series World Championship to Turkey for the first time outside Southeast Asia.

SURGE will build local communities and run active tournaments across Western European countries and has opened a wildcard slot for the region. NODWIN will lead production, sponsor go-to-market work and on-the-ground operations in North and South America while MOONTON will support prize pools, marketing and event operations.

MOONTON consolidated North and South America into a single competitive region. At the recent Championship Tour, a South American team beat a previously dominant North American side, reflecting the new regional structure.

The Lima Championship Tour leg combined competition with live entertainment elements, including a rap battle and music performances. Onsite sponsorships included Bonoxs, a regional payment platform, and a local bubble tea vendor that joined after attending rehearsals.

MOONTON is formalizing protocols for third-party events in collaboration with the Esports Integrity Commission to standardize rules and protect players and organizers. Ray Ng, head of the esports ecosystem, noted, “With their know-how, we’re able to implement one of the best protocols in the world when we are organising tournaments, to ensure fairness, safety and the whole structure.”

The company separates support for grassroots teams and established organisations. Grassroots clubs are directed toward open qualifiers and relegation pathways. Established organisations are offered franchise slots or direct-entry discussions; Team Liquid’s entry began with an introductory email, while other clubs have grown from local grassroots operations.

MOONTON uses daily active users divided by population as a threshold to guide investment. Markets with penetration above 10% are eligible for direct esports investment and franchise systems; Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines meet that bar, and Mongolia also qualified despite a smaller population. Markets with 5% to 10% penetration, including Turkey, receive targeted marketing and esports spending. Countries with 1% to 5% penetration are treated as early interest markets for longer-term development.

The publisher reorganized esports into five regions: Southeast Asia, East Asia, EECA, EMEA and the Americas. It is piloting Championship Tour formats in the Americas and East Asia and plans to extend the model across all regions over the next three years. MOONTON expects to announce the next world championship host around the M8 grand final.

MOONTON reported audience demographics used in sponsor pitches: roughly 30% under 18, 40% aged 18–23 and about 20% over 23. Global gender balance sits near 75:25 male to female, narrowing to about 60:40 in some regions including the Middle East and Turkey. The publisher runs a women’s tournament programme with the Esports World Cup; female participation is growing faster than the overall base in some markets.

Commercial partners include Visa, which backed the M7 World Championship in Indonesia with a cash and card-programme tie-in, and Red Bull, which remains involved. MOONTON said it is seeing organic interest from local brands as events reach new cities.

After the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia acquired MOONTON in March 2026, the studio continues to operate independently, the company said. Ray Ng concluded, “We’re still seeing the potential for the next twenty years,” and the publisher plans a detailed roadmap update later this year.