MANILA -- The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup will now be known as the ML:BB Mid-Season Cup, Moonton Games announced as it added more regions to the mid-year tournament.

Moonton Games also added that the tournament will be hosted outside of Southeast Asia and will be adding China into its tournament circuit.

"The Mid-Season Cup was rebranded in line with Moonton Games' Esports for Everyone vision to promote diversity and inclusivity for more global athletes to have the opportunity to compete in one of the most-watched esports tournaments worldwide," Moonton Games said in a statement.

China, one of the largest and most powerful countries in the gaming and esports sphere, is one of the game's highly-anticipated regions as the government gave the greenlight for the game to operate in the country late last year.

MSC was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia last June, with Indonesia's Onic Esports taking the title over Blacklist International at the AEON Mall Mean Chey.

Prior, it was held in Malaysia (2022), the Philippines (2019), and Indonesia (2018), and remotely during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

After the Philippines hosted the 5th ML:BB World Championships, it will be held in Malaysia next year.