MPL Indonesia Season 12 is first mobile esports event to surpass 100M hours of watch time

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The MPL Indonesia Season 12, undoubtedly the crown jewel among the various Mobile Legends Professional Leagues, has done it once again. Esports Charts had reported after its Group Stage that it was on course to break the 100M Hours Watched mark, which is what happened at the end of the event.

Having already broken the discipline and mobile esports record for the highest watch time ever generated post its pool phase, it went on to become the first regional and first mobile tournament to surpass 100M hours of watch time. To put this achievement into context, the only previous competitions to do so were the League of Legends’ Worlds and The International, Dota 2's most coveted series. These are two of the most prominent names in the industry, and for MLBB to match them (and them, in the latter’s case) just shows how famous and important it is in the worldwide mobile esports ladder.

  Most popular matches and basic stats from the MPL Indonesia Season 12   

The MPL Indonesia Season 12, held offline from July 13 to October 15, saw ONIC Esports ease past Geek Fam ID 4:2 in the best of seven Playoffs Grand Final to emerge as the champion. Carrying a prize pool of $336.5K, it saw the top two seal spots at the M5 World Championship, while the top six qualified for the ONE Esports MPL Invitational 2023, which brings together 16 top sides from eight regions as they battle it out for a $100K prize purse.

It also ended up hitting 2.1M Peak Viewers during the Regular Season's Week 2 Day 3 clash between arch-rivals EVOS Legends and Rex Regum Qeon, which the latter edged 2:1. As two of the most followed sides from this league, it made sense that audiences would tune in to watch them duke it out, especially since the former failed to make it to the Playoffs.

RRQ, the most followed side in the game, had four appearances in the top five most popular games list at the MPL Indonesia Season 12. In fact, the Grand Final was only fifth here, showing just how much demand was there for the two prominent sides — RRQ and EVOS Legends. All this also helped the event do a staggering 116M Hours Watched and 520K Average Viewers over an airtime of 224 hours.

Eventually, this record watch time stat matched the average scenario prediction from Esports Charts’ viewership forecast for the Playoffs. This was despite RRQ not finishing in the top three, one of the criteria to reach this scenario; a major reason for this was the sheer number of closer games in this knockout stage as compared to the mean results during such games, with only two series between participants finishing with a 3:0 scoreline.

Sticking with the topic of most popular teams, there was only one winner, and it enjoyed a handsome lead over the next best side. However, one organization will be disappointed with its performance at this MLBB competition, which also affected how many average concurrent viewers it attracted during its journey.

There were no surprises of note to report from the top end of the overall language and platform watch time charts. However, the increasing popularity of TikTok across Asia, especially Southeast Asia, as a medium to catch the live action of various esports events is something that has been flying under the radar and could open new avenues as to how matches are broadcast in the future.

As mentioned in Esports Charts' viewership forecast for the MPL Indonesia Season 12, RRQ's displays were crucial to it putting up such astonishing statistics. The most popular Mobile Legends: Bang Bang side reached the Lower Bracket Semifinal in the Playoffs, and while it could have helped improve the numbers had it reached the summit clash, fans were invested enough to still follow its journey and contribute to a record-shattering tournament.

ONIC Esports going all the way was also a boon, and in the absence of the league's third strong team — EVOS Legends — they were able to do exceedingly well. Of course, these two meeting in the Grand Final was the most favorable scenario for the event's viewership stats, but the fact that it did so well without them clashing is a testament to the love and loyalty of fans towards the competition.

  Most watched Mobile Legends Professional League competitions of all time   

At the end of it all, the MPL Indonesia Season 12 became the most-watched event in the series and MLBB esports overall. It also became just the fourth edition in the series to cross the 2M peak concurrent viewers threshold and the 11th competition overall.

It is a testament to the fame and pulling power of the Indonesian region that the three most watched Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tournaments of all time have all come from its leagues. In fact, six of the top ten entries in these rankings come from this region of MPL esports.

  Most watched esports tournaments of all time   

There are now six esports events that have breached the vaunted 100M watch hours mark, with MLBB joining this elite club that has four LoL competitions and the lone Dota 2 one. It is a similar story when looking at the table of ten most viewed esports tournaments of all time, with Riot Games' MOBA contributing five, Montoon's version providing three, and Valve's legendary title donating two entries.

It is now over the ongoing 2023 World Championship and The International 2023 to improve on their predecessors' numbers and show that while MLBB may be a rising force, PC games still rule the roost when it comes to capturing the attention of worldwide audiences. After all, that is a debate that has formed quite the basis for the modern esports scene, whether mobile or PC game competitions are more sought after.