The ONE Esports Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Professional League Invitational (MPLI) is coming back in 2023, with a big change. This year, the premium tournament, hosted by MOONTON and ONE Esports, is happening as an offline LAN event.

MPLI 2023 will be an offline event for the first time

So far, three editions of the MPLI have happened, with the first in 2020. All three were online events and featured a similar format. The timeline for the events was in November – after the second seasons of the MPL and before the M World Championships. They all also featured a $100,000 prize pool.

The tournaments featured 20 teams, invited from different MPLs. The format featured a single-elimination bracket where the teams fought to give it their all.

The 2023 edition is set to be different, though. This time, the event will happen offline at an undisclosed venue from Nov. 15 to 19. ONE Esports hasn’t revealed any other details about the event.

“We are proud to continue the tradition of MPLI,” said Carlos Alimurung, CEO of ONE Esports. “This year, we are taking it to the next level by transitioning to an offline event, which promises to deliver an unforgettable esports experience for the MLBB community. The ONE Esports MPL Invitational 2023 represents the commitment of ONE Esports to elevate esports by creating world-class events and fostering the growth of the esports community.”

With the move to an offline tournament, it remains to be seen if the format gets changed as well. If not, 20 teams giving their all in a single-elimination bracket in a LAN tournament will certainly be a sight for audiences.

MPL Invitational records great viewership numbers

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) is undoubtedly the most watched mobile esports title there is. The MPLI is no stranger to these numbers.

The 2020 edition recorded a peak viewership of 723,000 and an average of 142,000 viewers, per Esports Charts. This jumped to an astounding 1.7 million peak viewers for the 2021 edition and an average of 341,000 viewers. The 2022 edition, though, fell to 704,000 peak viewers and an average of 200,151, particularly because of the more popular teams getting eliminated in the earlier rounds.

It remains to be seen how the MPLI 2023 performs as an offline event.

Last year, it was the Indonesian squad of ONIC Esports which lifted the title. The team had received a direct bye to the quarterfinals for being the MPL Indonesia Season 10 champion and they took down Bren Esports, TODAK, and finally Geek Fam in the final to lift the title.

ONIC are in tremendous form since then. They finished fourth in the M4 World Championship, won the MPL Indonesia Season 11, and also ended Indonesia’s MSC drought after winning the 2023 edition of the tournament. If they keep this up, the team might be able to defend its title at the MPLI 2023.

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