Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has big plans for 2026

26 January 2026

The new year 2026 is just a few weeks old at the time of writing and it already looks like it’s going to be Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s year. Or at least, that’s what Moonton, the popular international esports title’s developer, is aiming for. While the recent 2025 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M7 World Championship, which was played from 3 January 2026 to 25 January 2025, recorded record viewership, they took the opportunity to reveal the 2026 roadmap for MLBB. And it looks like global expansion is going to be a major theme and objective for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang this year.

Five global regions

The first version of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang was launched in 2015 and for the first time since that illustrious moment, the game will include five regions (for the 2026 season). These regions are divided as follows:

“This framework unifies the global MLBB Esports ecosystem while empowering each region through tailored infrastructure and talent development pathways,” writes Moonton in a press statement, “At the heart of the plan is the Championship Tour, an intercontinental tournament piloting across AMER, EA and SEA to elevate regional competition and spotlight emerging talent. The shift to a region-focused model reflects MLBB Esports’ ambition to balance local development with global integration, where each region upholds the strength of the global ecosystem.”

Ambitious international goals

Moonton has just stopped at defining five global regions for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. They have also expressed a series of very ambitious goals, mainly in terms of international expansion. The developer wants to reach 70 regions and stage more than 5.000 international esports events this year. As far viewership, Moonton is aiming to surpass 600 million hours watched in 2026 by increasing the game’s popularity in every region. The basis for their strategy is Southeast Asia, where Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has rapidly grown over the past few years.

“With this blueprint, we’re taking a long-term view of what MLBB Esports can be”, says Tiger Xu, Global Head of MLBB Esports at Moonton, “Every community will have the chance to grow and develop its own identity while remaining connected to a larger ecosystem. This transition is as much about integration as it is about expansion. By bringing emerging regions into the fold, we ensure that every market plays a central role in the competitive landscape.”

2025 M7 World Championship

Moonton revealed its plans for MLBB during the recently held M7 World Championship in Indonesia. The tournament was won by Aurora Gaming PH from the Philippines, who took home $ 320.000 worth of prize money, while the latest edition of the M7 World Championship ended up becoming the most-watched mobile esports tournament in history. With almost 136 million hours watched, it became the most-watched mobile esports event of all time in that category, for example. The tournament also broke several regional all-time viewership records, including for Indonesian-language broadcasts and Tagalog-language broadcasts.