Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) has made history at the Esports World Cup (EWC), emerging as the event’s most-watched esports title for a third consecutive edition with 2.89 million PCV, according to Esports Charts. MLBB Esports now turns to Istanbul, Türkiye, with MOONTON Games today unveiling the slot allocation for the M8 World Championship (M8). The M8 is the eighth edition of the M Series, MLBB’s flagship global tournament, which makes its European debut when it is held next January.
The M8 slot allocation builds on MLBB’s global visibility by widening global participation, with more pathways for emerging talent to reach the world stage. It puts the five-region global structure—spanning Southeast Asia (SEA); Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA); Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); East Asia (EA); and the Americas (AMER)—in motion. The framework connects MLBB Esports’ established franchised leagues and expanding regional competitions to the pinnacle of competitive MLBB—the M Series.
MLBB is one of the world’s leading mobile games with 1.5 billion installations and 110 million Monthly Active Users (MAU). The title has cemented itself as a global esports powerhouse, holding the world record for the most-watched mobile esports title since 2021, according to Esports Charts. Earlier this year, the M7 World Championship became the most-popular mobile esports tournament in history with more than 5.68 million PCV, according to Esports Charts.
The M8 puts that global scale into play
The M8 Wild Card in Bangkok, Thailand, will be the biggest yet, bringing together a record 10 teams, compared with eight at the M7. As the final gate to the world stage, all 10 teams will vie for three coveted slots in the 16-team Main Stage, up from two at the previous edition. The M8 will also mark the first time the MLBB Championship Tour (MCT) feeds into the M Series. Introduced this year as a new layer of MLBB’s global competitive structure, MCT is designed to elevate regional competition and spotlight emerging talent.
Together, the expanded Wild Card and new MCT pathways give more teams the opportunity to carry regional success onto the global arena.
Tiger Xu, Global Head of MLBB Esports at MOONTON Games, said: “As MLBB approaches its 10th anniversary, our next chapter is about connecting the strength we have built across regions into a more global competitive ecosystem. The M8 brings that vision to life by opening more routes for teams to reach the world stage. The more regions we connect to international competition, the stronger and more diverse the field becomes. Our ambition is to build an ecosystem where world-class talent can emerge from every region and compete at the highest level.”
MLBB at EWC 26 offered an early glimpse of what stronger regional pathways can produce. Team Spirit, representing EECA, defeated Myanmar’s Yangon Galacticos 4–3 in the MLBB Mid Season Cup (MSC) Grand Final to become the first team from outside Southeast Asia to win an official international MLBB major. The breakthrough came during MLBB’s third consecutive year as a mainstay title at EWC, where both MSC and the rebranded MLBB Women’s International (MWI) made their European debuts.
The journey from Paris to Istanbul reflects the continued expansion of MLBB’s international footprint. Across 2026 and early 2027, MLBB IPs are entering three new countries and major international stages: MSC and MWI made their European debuts in Paris, France; MLBB’s Asian Games debut in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan; and the M8 Finals in Istanbul, Türkiye.
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