MLBB Women's Invitational 2025 reinforces rapid growth of women’s esports
The MLBB Women's Invitational 2025, the sole female event at the Esports World Cup 2025, concluded on July 19. It continued to establish itself as a must-watch standalone spectacle, ending as one of the most popular tournaments in the history of women’s esports while almost doubling the efforts of last year’s edition.
This Mobile Legends: Bang Bang competition saw the globe’s best women’s sides in the game battle it out for the title of world champion. A hefty prize pool of $500,000 — the joint-highest in female esports — was an added incentive, along with the substantial Club Championship points on offer, especially for the podium finishers.
After five days of intense action, Team Vitality Female emerged as the victor, brushing past Gaimin Gladiators 4:0 in the Grand Final. This clash was also the most popular of this competition, reaching 496,954 Peak Viewers (PV), 80% higher than the next-best match. It also set a new benchmark for female esports at the EWC, with last year’s MWI peaking at 265,117 viewers.
The 3.7M Hours Watched (HW) it accrued was also one of the highest in women’s esports, putting it in the all-time top five leaderboard. These are all remarkable feats and reiterated the segment’s growing influence within the competitive video gaming industry, one that has long been known as a male-dominated space.
Most popular & most-watched female esports events of all time
Leading the charge in female esports is MLBB, which now boasts four of the five most popular tournaments. The title’s influence in the industry only grows, as it continues to break viewership records and challenge the best PC esports games like League of Legends in terms of popularity and audience reach.
This growth in the female side of MLBB esports can also be seen in the fact that top Western esports organizations like Team Vitality, Team Liquid, and Natus Vincere have invested in the game. Moreover, renowned orgs from SEA, which remains the game’s biggest market, like ONIC Esports, have entered the scene, encouraged by the improvements they have seen.
Crucially, it’s not been a one-way relationship, as these prominent sides have helped bring in more eyeballs to the women’s game in MLBB. The likes of Team Vitality, Virtus.pro, Team Liquid, and Natus Vincere have been hugely successful across esports titles, and they bring their storied esports legacies to the female competitions of this mobile-based MOBA.
Getting back to the MWI 2025, another fact that points to its growth is that it has seen huge year-on-year improvements in its overall numbers across counts over the past few years. Apart from creating a peak live viewership record this year, it has also steadily grown in watch time, with this year’s iteration also being the first to cross the 100,000 Average Viewers (AV) mark.
The only dip this Mobile Legends: Bang Bang series witnessed in terms of PV came during the second iteration, in 2023. This was because, apart from the finalists, a few surprise names like Risk Velkhana and Omega Empress went deep into the Playoffs, meaning audience interest waned towards the end of this tournament. The absence of a popular org like Bren Victress also did not help matters.
It has also beaten other high-profile Esports World Cup 2025 events from Valorant, Dota 2, and Apex Legends to sit in the fourth spot among the series’ most popular tournaments. Leading the pile as the only games to cross the one million PV mark are LoL and the ongoing men’s MLBB competition.
With every passing year, women’s esports continues to showcase its potential, and series like the Esports World Cup 2025 have provided it with a global stage to do so. An amalgamation of rising interest among viewers, entry of popular sides, and high-quality action has ensured that MLBB has taken the lead, and it seems unlikely that any other women’s esports, for now, can match the interest this title generates among audiences.
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