INTRODUCTION

 

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) is a mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Moonton, a subsidiary of ByteDance. Released in 2016, the game grew in popularity; most prominently in Southeast Asia.

At its core, the game pits 2 teams of 5 against each other in real time.Featuring traditional battle arena gameplay, players must fight over three lanes to take the enemy's tower and defend their own. Like classic MOBAs, there is no hero training to level up or pay to play angle winners and losers are decided based on skill & strategy.

Following success, Moonton has tapped into the esports scene with the creation of several regional tournaments dubbed as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) that serves as a qualifier for the Mobile Legends World Championships. It was among the six games chosen for the first medal event of esports competition at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games held in the Philippines.

Originally named Mobile Legends: 5v5 MOBA, the initial release of the game in 2016 was met with criticism citing similarities with another MOBA game, League of Legends. As a result, Riot Games filed a lawsuit against Moonton for copyright infringement on two separate occasions: in July 2017 and May 2022. In June 2020, the game was banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps due to security concerns by the government.