KUALA LUMPUR: The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Malaysia (MPL MY) continues to strengthen its fanbase here each season.
The competition, which is in its 13th edition now, achieved a new record turnout in its opening week with over 3,500 fans making their way to the MPL Malaysia Arena at Stadium MBSJ Serdang Jaya last weekend.
Over 1,200 people showed up for the opening match between defending champions HomeBois and Selangor Red Giants, which saw the latter securing an 2-0 win.
Moonton Games marketing and business development lead Fikri Rizal Mahruddin believed a refreshed format had kept the competition exciting.
Moonton are the developers of "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang".
"The league is the most intense and competitive it has ever been following the format changes we introduced for this season," said Fikri yesterday.
"This season, only six teams will advance to the playoffs, down from eight teams previously. We have also adjusted the points system.
"With such high stakes, the teams know that they have no margin for error. This pressure serves to level up our esports talents so that they can better perform when representing Malaysia at the international level."
The competition continues this week with upcoming clashes between Niners and RSG Malaysia (Friday) as well as Red Giants against Todak (Saturday) expected to be among the highlights.
MPL Malaysia teams are vying for a slice of the RM468,000 prize purse this season, as well as the opportunity to qualify (up to two slots) for the new Mid Season Cup (MSC), which offers a staggering US$3 million prize purse.
MSC will be held in conjunction with the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28-July 14.