The Olympic Council of Asia announced on Saturday, Feb. 22, that Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) will be a medal event at the 2026 Asian Games, marking the first time that MLBB will feature at the regional games.
The Asian Games is a multi-sport event — and the biggest sports competition in Asia — held every four years.
Esports was introduced at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang in 2018 as a demonstration sport; it was later made a full medal sport at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.
The 20th edition of the Asian Games will next take place in Nachi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to 4 October 2026.
MLBB is one of the world’s most popular mobile esports titles and is the first esports event series in history to surpass 1 billion hours of watch time, according to Esports Charts.
The mobile Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game has more than 1.5 billion installations and 110 million active monthly users and is the current star game of video game company Moonton Games.
Ray Ng, head of esports ecosystem at Moonton Games, said: “MLBB’s inclusion at the 2026 Asian Games reflects its status as a premier mobile esport, known for its accessibility, strategic depth, and global appeal. This historic milestone not only validates MLBB’s impact on competitive gaming; it also reinforces MLBB’s role in uniting diverse communities through high-level play.”
MLBB will headline esports at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand in December 2025 — the fourth consecutive time that MLBB is a medal sport at the biennial multi-sporting event — where it will have both have men’s and women’s medal competitions.
MLBB holds the records as the most-watched esports event in SEA Games history for both the men’s and women’s categories; at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, the men’s category had 1,462,871 Peak Concurrent Viewers (PCV) and the women’s category had 1,367,274 PCV, according to Esports Charts.
