Malaysia is looking to up its eSports game, with a focus on empowering grassroots players, via the inaugural Mobile Legends Bang Bang Academy League Malaysia (MAL MY).
The effort is a collaboration between Moonton Games and IO eSports, aiming to ‘cultivate the eSports potential within the country’ by offering young players an avenue to enter the professional eSports area.
The plan is to set up a pipeline for debuting players to enter Malaysia’s Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) eSports league, with the strongest players to compete in MPL Malaysia.
The Academy’s league is expected to be able to join the next MPL MY season scheduled for 2H24.
The first season of MAL MY will follow that of MLBB, with qualifiers in February, the regular season in March and playoffs in May.
The Moonton-organized M6 World Championship is also expected to see players from the development league, with the company’s business development head saying the move should help boost the nation’s performance in the championship, after Malaysia’s representatives failed to reach the knockout stages.
The championship is scheduled for the end of 2024, and should see the prize pool reach or surpass the $900,000 in total prizes awarded in the last edition. The M5 World Championship was won by AP. Bren (Bren Esports), out of the Philippines, with the team earning $300,000.
