SINGAPORE - A double-bill weekend of e-sports action will deliver thrills and spills for fans this week when the regular season of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Singapore gets underway on Saturday (April 3).
The One Esports Dota 2 Singapore Major presented by PGL will also hold the third and fourth rounds of lower bracket matches and upper bracket final at Fairmont Singapore on the same day, with the grand final slated for Sunday.
Organisers of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang league unveiled the eight participating teams on Wednesday, with Notorious Villains (NV) and Forsaken the two teams who booked their spot in the regular season after emerging top among over 120 teams in the qualifiers.
The other six invited teams are RSG SG, Evos SG, Kingsmen, Almghty, Impunity SG and Explorer.
The final play-offs will take place from May 7-9, when the last two teams standing will compete in a best-of-five series that will culminate in the crowning of the first MPL Singapore champion.
Previously, teams from Singapore and Malaysia competed in a competition called MPL MYSG.
The inaugural MPL Singapore tournament has a prize purse of up to $100,000 and the winning team will get $30,000.
NV captain Ng Shao Ming "Kolia" said: "Whatever the results may be, we look forward to a great learning opportunity that will help us improve our gaming skills. MPL Singapore has helped to further our passion for gaming and encouraged us to pursue excellence."
In another exciting development in the local e-sports scene, professional Singapore organisation Team Flash announced on Thursday that they had signed world champions Nicholas "CoupDeAce" Ng and Jerome "Response" Kuek, who were previously from PSG Esports, to their new Brawl Stars roster.
Brawl Stars is a multiplayer online battle arena and third-person shooter game, where players battle against others in multiple game modes.
Last November, Ng, Kuek and their two other PSG Esports teammates - compatriot Charleston "Scythe" Yeo and Japanese Kogure "Relyh" Yo - won the Brawl Stars World Finals and the winners' cheque of US$200,000 (S$269,000).
Joining Ng and Kuek in Team Flash's Brawl Stars team are Jordon "JayKay" Ko, who was also part of PSG Esports but did not compete in the World Finals, Chui Zi Kang "CZY", as well as coach Christopher "Wigglyspoo" Seah.
Ng, 26, said: "We have a young but talented team of players, and with the guidance from our coach and the other members of Team Flash, I believe we have what it takes to go all the way again this year and defend our World Finals title."
Team Flash also signed Ar Muhammad Aleef "Hamilton" and Jason Tay to compete in the upcoming April 7-June 2 E1 Championship, Asia Pacific's premier simulation racing championship.
The organisation also on Wednesday announced the appointment of its new chief executive Mark Chew, who will replace co-founder Terence Ting. Chew is one of the managing directors at local sports media agency Reddentes Sports.
