Moonton unveils new game, major updates

• Sixteen teams from over 14 countries will fight for a prize pool of over US$250,000
• The sequel - Mobile Legends: Adventure, will be made available on Aug 1, 2019

GAMERS can rejoice as Moonton, the developer of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, has unveiled a slew of gaming news and announcements at the Moonton Epicon 2019: The Future Begins Global Conference.

Held on July 18 at the Connexion Conference & Event Centre, Nexus, Kuala Lumpur, the global conference brought together attendees from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei and more to celebrate the growth and success of the Mobile Legends franchises as well as to reveal their upcoming expansion plans.

“Our global team is constantly adapting to market changes, and improving according to the latest advances in technology so we can provide our players with more engaging and localised gaming experiences, and our partners more fruitful and meaningful collaborative work and results,” announced Moonton chief executive officer and co-founder Justin Yuan (pic, below) during his opening speech.

Among major announcements made was that the playoffs of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Cup will be held from Nov 11 to 14 in the Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur.

Minister of Youth and Sports Malaysia Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said: “E-sports in Malaysia has tremendous potential to be a million-dollar industry that significantly boosts the country’s socioeconomic development, and we are grateful to Moonton for helping to place us on the world map by selecting Malaysia as the site of its inaugural Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship.

“This is a remarkable milestone that will definitely enhance Malaysia’s position as an e-sports powerhouse that attracts the most talented gamers from across the world.”

E-sports Malaysia president Ananth S Nathan expressed gratitude for Moonton’s contributions to e-sports in Malaysia.

“Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is one of the most played and famous games in Malaysia. This game has significantly increased the number of professional e-sports teams in the country,” he said.

The international tournament, known as M1, will see 16 teams from over 14 countries fight for the glory of becoming the first Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Champion and earn a prize pool of over US$250,000. Fans will be able to watch these e-sports athletes go toe-to-toe as the event will be live-streamed online.

Welcomed by raucous enthusiasts, the news of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang 2.0 was one of the event’s greatest highlights. The game’s update revealed amongst others, an engine upgrade that promises an improved user experience with faster loading and start-up speed, and high definition character modelling.

This new version features a sleek new game interface, upgraded map, increased FPS, reduced AFK and lag, and brandishes a new squad of heroes.

This was followed by the introduction of the game’s highly anticipated sequel - Mobile Legends: Adventure, an idle RPG strategy card game, which will be made available to gamers on Aug 1, 2019.

Optimised for minimal internet requirement and low storage consumption, Mobile Legends: Adventure is designed for quick casual play. Players command up to five heroes at a time in positional battles, using their wits to organise the most strategic line-ups to counter their opponents.

The global conference went on to share details on Moonton’s past and future IP collaborations with brands such as Domino’s Pizza, Grab, Choki-Choki, Pepsi Cola, KFC and more.

“This partnership with Mobile Legends has undoubtedly strengthened the greater development of the gaming and e-sports community in Malaysia,” said Domino’s Pizza Malaysia and Singapore spokesperson Leong Huey Ying in regards to their ‘United We Win’ collaboration, which saw the brand host their first live gaming session in-store while their audience enjoyed pizza and sides.

Facebook Gaming representative Jack Li said that Mobile Legends: Bang Bang had a critical role in promoting the livestreaming service's In-stream Rewards feature which gifted viewers with in-game rewards the longer they watched streams.