The Esports World Cup has announced Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Rocket League as the latest slew of titles to join the lineup for its 2025 edition in Riyadh.
For the second year running Mobile Legends: Bang Bang will host its Mid Season Cup and Women’s Invitational at the Esports World Cup. Meanwhile, Rocket League’s tournament has yet to be revealed.
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MLBB and Rocket League join an evergrowing list of games that have already been announced for the event. This includes the likes of EA FC 25, Call of Duty, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2, with more titles likely announced.
Last year’s Rocket League event at the EWC 2024 saw 16 teams compete for a prize pool of $500,000 (~£395,000). Team BDS claimed a large chunk of the prize pool, securing $200,000 by defeating Team Falcons in the Grand Finals.
Recently, there have been discussions questioning the sustainability of Rocket League esports, with some organisations departing the scene. For 2025, developer Psyonix has increased its total event prize pool to $5m, alongside launching other initiatives to build a sustainable competitive ecosystem for the title.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang was one of Esports World Cup’s most popular games last year, with the 2024 Mid-Season Cup garnering a peak of 2.38m viewers. The event, which was won by Selangor Red Giants, featured a $3m (~£2.4m) prize pool.
Last year’s MLBB Women’s Invitational saw women’s teams from 12 countries compete for its $550,000 (~£428,647) prize pool. The event reached a peak viewership of 265,117 viewers, making it the sixth most-watched women’s esports event ever. Both MSC and MWI are set to return for the 2025 edition of the event.
On MLBB’s Esports World Cup return in 2025, Ray Ng, Head of Esports Ecosystem at MOONTON Games, commented: “2024 marked the first time that the MSC and MWI ventured outside of Southeast Asia – a milestone moment for MLBB esports. The return of both tournaments to the EWC next year reflects the global status of the MLBB brand.
“I am especially excited for MWI; it was the first women’s tournament at the inaugural EWC, but we have plans to expand it even further – to include even more teams next year!”
In other news, the Esports World Cup Foundation, the organiser of the event, recently expanded its partner programme to 40 organisations to attract more teams from China, Southeast Asia, Latin America and MENA.
Nevertheless, due to the Esports World Cup Foundation’s ties to the Saudi Arabian government, the multi-title event has attracted criticism concerning the country’s stance on women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights.
