Mobile Legends to headline 33rd SEA Games esports event

MANILA, Philippines — Moonton Games and the Thailand E-Sports Federation (TESF) have announced that Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB) will headline the esports event in the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games happening in December 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand.

"One of the core success factors for MLBB has been our deliberate strategy to make the competitive esports ecosystem accessible and inclusive to aspiring esports athletes. International sporting events like the SEA Games empowers esports players, organizations, and federations by giving them a globally recognized competitive platform to bring glory to their respective nations. MLBB's return as a medalled event is another positive step forward for esports, which has become increasingly accepted by the Thai and wider global sporting community as a competitive sport. The inclusion of MLBB as a medalled sport in the 33rd SEA Games marks a major milestone for us in Thailand; we've been seeing tremendous growth in both the quantity and competitive standard of the nation's local players, especially women players. We're delighted to collaborate with TESF again to create more opportunities to further support the flourishing Thai esports community, which builds on existing initiatives like the Asian Esports Games (AEG) in Bangkok later this year,” said Moonton Games' head of esports ecosystem Ray Ng.

This marks the fourth consecutive games for MLBB as a medal event in the SEA Games, with the game also holding the title as the most-watched esports event. The men's event enjoyed peak concurrent views of up to 1.4 million, while the women's side had 1.3 million concurrent views.

"Thailand is one of Southeast Asia's most mature markets for games and competitive esports, but there is still massive opportunity to grow the community further. The cooperation of game companies are a crucial part of this ambition. We are thankful for the support of Moonton Games in helping us achieve this shared goal of creating platforms for aspiring talents to pursue their dreams of representing their countries on the international stage,” said TESF president Santi Lothong.

Previously, the 32nd SEA Games saw seven esports titles — MLBB, FIFA Online 4, Crossfire, League of Legends: Wild Rift, PUBG Mobile, Mission Against Terror and Valorant. 

The Philippines currently holds the titles of most esports gold medals (seven) as well as most esports medals (15 in total). The country's national esports team, Sibol has been undefeated in the MLBB event, taking all three golds in the previous games.