MOONTON Games today unveiled the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as the seventh slot for the M5 World Championship Wild Card. The MENA representative will receive a slot at the M5 World Championship Wild Card based on the results of the 2023 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Middle East and North Africa (MPL MENA) Fall Split. As announced previously, the 2023 MPL MENA Fall Split champion will also directly qualify for the M5 World Championship.
The 2023 MPL MENA Fall Split has brought together the region’s top eight Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) teams to compete for the US$100,000 (~SAR375,000) prize pool. This season’s exciting team line-up includes two-time defending champions, Team Occupy, their bitter rivals Okami eSports, league newcomers Team Falcons and Triple Esports, and dark horses Geekay Esports, Curse Squad, Team SEN, and Twisted Minds. Hosted at the state-of-the-art VOV Gaming offline venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Regular Season commenced last week and concludes with the Playoffs on 21 October.
MENA region joins the M5 Wild Card stage in Malaysia
The Wild Card will be hosted in Malaysia this November and will be the arena in which the MENA representative will battle against seven other teams from East Europe and Central Asia (EECA), Latin America, Malaysia, the Mekong region, Mongolia, South Asia, and one other unannounced region. These eight teams will compete for two slots at the M5 World Championship in the Philippines, where a US$900,000 (~SAR3,300,000) prize pool awaits.
Jaime Cruz, Head of Esports (MENA & South Asia) of MOONTON Games, said: “We continue to be impressed by the caliber and growth of the MENA region’s esports athletes. Most recently, Saudi Arabia and Egypt placed third and fourth, respectively, at the IESF World Esports Championship 2023 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Their impressive placements demonstrate that they are genuine contenders against the world’s best teams. The M5 World Championship and Wild Card offer teams a fantastic opportunity to soar beyond their limits and unleash their potential on the international stage – to become #BetterThanGreat.”