M8 World Championship Heads to Turkey; MLBB Expands at EWC 2026
Moonton will stage the M8 World Championship finals in Turkey — the first time outside Southeast Asia — and add a women’s world championship with a $3.5M combined prize pool.
Moonton Games announced on April 22 that the M8 World Championship finals will be held in Turkey and the Wildcard Stage will take place in Bangkok, Thailand. The M8 final will be the first edition of the tournament held outside Southeast Asia and the first staged in Europe.
The company revealed its 2026 esports roadmap during the M7 World Championship Grand Finals. The 2026 season coincides with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s 10th anniversary.
At the Esports World Cup 2026, Moonton will present Mobile Legends under a “Two Champions, One Game” plan that gives equal standing to the MLBB Mid Season Cup and a rebranded MLBB Women’s International in the mid-season circuit.
The MLBB Women’s International will run as a parallel world championship to the Mid Season Cup. Open qualifiers will cover more than 60 regions and will include Western Europe qualifiers for the first time. Regional winners will advance to the MLBB Women’s International 2026 in Saudi Arabia, where the women’s tournament will carry a $500,000 prize pool.
The Mid Season Cup will widen its qualification paths to include teams from India, Thailand, South Korea and Western Europe for the first time. Moonton said the Mid Season Cup and the MLBB Women’s International will offer a combined $3.5 million in prize money, the largest total for a single esports title at the Esports World Cup 2026.
Ray Ng, Head of Global Esports Ecosystem at Moonton Games, described the women’s event as reflecting changes in the MLBB competitive scene and aimed at creating equal recognition for talent: “The MWI’s evolution into the MLBB Women’s International reflects where the ecosystem is today. Our ambition is to set the standard for how global esports ecosystems are built.”
Previous MLBB World Championships have been hosted in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila and Selangor. Moonton said the expanded qualification structure and staging of major events in new regions are intended to broaden competitive opportunities and increase global representation in MLBB’s top tournaments.
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