DESERT STORM

Mid Season Cup 2024 will emerge as the biggest and most lucrative tournament in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang history when it fires off from 1 to 14 July in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Formerly known as the Mobile Legends: Southeast Asia Cup, the prestigious tourney dangles a prize pool of a whopping $3 million — or around P169 million, making it the biggest and richest Esports event in history.

Aside from that, it will also be the first time that the MSC will be held outside the Southeast Asian region since its inception in 2017.

The Philippines will be represented by the grand finalists in the Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines Season 13 with AP Bren and Blacklist International among those favored to advance.

Moonton Games head of Esports ecosystem Ray Ng said the lucrative tourney will help the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang raise its profile as it will be one of the featured titles in the Esports World Cup this year.

"This collaboration marks a new chapter for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Esports and the global Esports ecosystem," said Ng, who has yet to determine the exact venue of the Saudi tournament.

"We are thrilled to partner with the Esports World Cup Foundation and go beyond our horizons to Riyadh."

MSC used to be the battleground among the best Mobile Legends professional teams in Southeast Asia with a humble prize pool of $100,000.

But last year, Moonton Games decided to jack up the competition as it opened its door to professional teams from North America, Turkey, Middle East and North Africa, China, Central Asia and Brazil.

MSC will also now use a wild card format in selecting qualifiers, similar to what Moonton Games did in the M5 World Championship recently.

Overall, the upcoming MSC will have 35 participating countries across 14 international regions.

Meanwhile, the Mobile Legends Women's Invitational 2024 is also slated to take place outside of Southeast Asia for the first time.

The all-woman tournament will also be staged in Saudi Arabia with a lucrative prize pool of $500,000.

"Alongside teams from new participating regions, this year's iteration presents boundless opportunities for more regions to participate, in line with our vision to expand MSC and MWI to foster greater diversity and inclusiveness," Ng said.