Qiddiya City inks five-year deal to grow MLBB esports

Qiddiya City signed a five-year partnership with the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Middle East and North Africa and will serve as the league’s Official Partner. The agreement, announced at the MPL MENA Season 9 Grand Finals, commits Qiddiya to support broadcast integrations, onsite activations, fan programming and community initiatives across the MENA region.

Representatives from MOONTON Games, the publisher of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Sherif Abdelbaky, president of the Egyptian Esports Federation, attended the Grand Finals and discussed regional development. Conversations covered youth esports programs, professional league structure, collaboration on offline events, talent development and plans to grow grassroots participation.

Ray Ng, Head of Esports Ecosystem at MOONTON Games, said: “Esports in MENA is entering a new phase of growth, where fans are looking for more than just competition. They want live experiences, community spaces, and entertainment that feels relevant to them. Long term collaborations like this are important because they help create the infrastructure and ecosystem needed to support that growth at scale.”

Ng added: “Together with Qiddiya City, we want to continue building experiences that bring gaming, entertainment, and youth culture closer together across the region. The pace of growth we’re seeing for MLBB Esports in MENA has been incredibly encouraging. We’re seeing stronger community participation, more interest from ecosystem partners, and increasing demand for live experiences.”

Qiddiya has been expanding its activities across gaming and live events. One week before the MPL MENA announcement the company was named a global partner for JioBLAST’s India Rising: Road to EWC program. RTS, an esports company owned by Qiddiya City, acquired full ownership of the Evo fighting games festival three months ago by buying out NODWIN Gaming’s stake.

MOONTON has pursued partnerships to grow MLBB outside Southeast Asia, including agreements with SURGE, the Portuguese Esports Federation, NODWIN Gaming and Runestone. Global Esports Industry Week is scheduled for June 18–21, 2026, in Cologne, Germany, running alongside IEM Cologne.

Under the five-year agreement Qiddiya will support live events and fan-focused programming in the MENA region while MOONTON continues to pursue international partnerships to expand MLBB.