A Journey of Growth and Innovation

Mobile Esports has seen a massive surge both in viewer count and events in 2024. The presence of mighty and mainstream titles took esports to a whole new level. And, unlike any other year, the growth looks so promising. From groundbreaking arrangements to record-breaking viewership, the acceptance of mobile esports gathered in 2024 is unreal. So, we prepared GamingonPhone’s Mobile Esports Year in Review for 2024 so we can share the story from the past year as a whole.

Major titles carrying esports, Mobile Legends is on top with record-breaking events

Mobile esports is arguably limited to some titles. Especially when it comes to the mainstream scene of mobile esports, there are not many heavyweight titles to be found. But the numbers are not small, backed by gaming market tycoons.

Games like PUBG Mobile, Honor of Kings, Call of Duty: Mobile, etc. are at the center of esports. But one title took center stage by delivering record-breaking events and actions. MOONTON’s popular MOBA title Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is making everyone stunned with the events performed throughout the year.

Fans wait for the grand events of each title to witness the best teams fight against each other. These events are the cornerstone of their esports, as they are on the run to become the best teams in their respective games. The pinnacle of the title’s esports event, the M6 World Championship, is the most viewed esports event in 2024.

With about 4.13M peak viewers, it is the top mobile esports title. The average concurrent viewership was more than 0.7M while the most watched match was the Grand Finals where Fnatic ONIC PH and Team Liquid ID faced off. According to the data presented by Esports Charts, Mobile Legends claimed four spots among the top 10 in “top esports events of 2024 by peak viewership“. Apart from the M6 World, Indonesia alone contributed half of the spots. The professional leagues in 2024 in Indonesia, MPL ID Season 13 and MPL ID Season 14 are in the top 10 list.

Olympic Esports Games: The greatest show on earth is entering its digital version with mobile esports

One of the biggest milestones mobile esports reached in 2024 is the announcement of the Olympic Esports Games in 2025. Last July, Saudi Arabia entered a partnership with the IOC to host the event. It was confirmed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as well. Though the number of games and segments is unknown, the upcoming event pushed the limit of mobile esports further.

“Saudi Arabia is hugely excited by the prospect of partnering with the IOC and helping to welcome a completely new era for international sport,” said HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, Minister of Sport and President of the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Saudi has been working effortlessly to make the impossible happen. The country’s wholehearted effort placed mobile esports to the next level. And now, the only challenge is to determine the extent of growth. Mobile esports is unbound in any area, thanks to Saudi Arabia.

Industry leaders are also aware and share insights for esports in the Olympics. This huge acknowledgment of esports will change the industry’s fate over the next couple of years. So, we asked the experts about what significant impacts are anticipated on the global esports market and related industries. All that answered the question sounded very positive and accepted the initiative as a milestone for mobile esports. “The biggest stars are built on the biggest stages in the world, and that’s what we aim to build,” said Benjamin Kratsch, Management Consultant Ministry of Sports, Saudi Arabia. Others had a similar view as well.

So, it’s no wonder that the competition will have a huge impact on the overall presence of mobile esports.

Major events are at the center of attraction, leading the way forward for others to make an entry into esports

Each title has its grand event waiting to take place in the final part of the year. Before that, titles host several other national, regional, and international events throughout the year. On top of it, some events feature multiple titles at once. All of these competitive events serve as the pillars of mobile esports drive viewership, and attention, and build connections with each part of the world.

Here are some notable events that took place and carried the mobile esports to a new level:

M6 World Championship

Mobile Legends M6 World Championship will top here as well. The event took place in Malaysia and brought some unforgettable moments. The event ended after Fnatic ONIC PH became the crowned champion. The grand event of MLBB esports was followed by a year-long series of events including regional championships and professional leagues.

One of the key events for the game in 2024 was the MLBB Mid-Season Cup (MSC) 2024 which took place in Riyadh. In the stage of the Esports World Cup (EWC), the event was the first of its kind replacing the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup. The first global event for MLBB outside the SEA region witnessed a massive success and gave the game a kickstart to think big in the coming year.

PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2024

PUBG Mobile has a multidimensional and spread esports roadmap and is probably the most diverse among the mobile esports titles. The top of its competition is the Global Championship. The PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2024 was the center of attraction for battle royale fans. It took place in London in December and crowned Dplus as the champion.

However, 2024 started for the title with one of the biggest events of its esports, the PMGO in Brazil. Later, we witnessed the second big event in Riyadh, the PMWC 2024. In the event, Alpha7 took the trophy home. The roadmap consisted of super leagues in America, CSA, and SEA along with regional events such as PEL, PMRC, PMCL, etc.

Honor of Kings Championship 2024

Honor of Kings Championship 2024 is the top event for the title’s esports scene. But the game took a new look in 2024 after announcing the roadmap. It arranged four big events throughout the year. Starting with the Invitational Season 1 in Istanbul, the Invitational Season 2 took place in June while the Mid-season Invitational was in August 2024 in Riyadh.

The title, overall, saw a massive success in 2024 and plans to do more in the coming year. It already proved its worth as a strong contender in the MOBA genre and will continue to deliver the intensity we need.

Supercell competitive titles

Supercell hosts its esports titles on the same stage. Three events took place in Helsinki, Finland in the November-December period. HMBLE took the Brawl Stars World Finals 2024 trophy while Mohamed Light won the Clash Royale League (CRL) 2024. On the other hand, the Clash of Clans World Championship 2024 was taken away by German Team Synchronic Gaming. Apart from the global finals, these titles hosted several monthly events in each region.

Free Fire World Series (FFWS) Global Finals 2024

Free Fire also spent a decent year in 2024. It followed the roadmap closely to gift each event to the fans and players. The highest event of its esports, the FFWS Global Finals 2024, took place in November and crowned Fluxo as the champion.

However, the game arranged several qualifying events for the regional and country-specific focus. Teams for the grand event of Free Fire esports were chosen from events such as FFWS SEA Fall 2024, Esports World Cup, FFWS Brazil 2024, FFWS Pakistan 2024, FFWS Middle East & Africa 2024, and FFWS LATAM 2024 Points. Overall, the year spent well for Garena’s hit title.

Call of Duty Mobile World Championship 2024

Call of Duty Mobile World Championship 2024 took place as a championship series for the whole year and culminated after crowning the world champion. Elevate won the champion trophy after defeating Qing Jiu Club in the grand finals.

Apart from these events, another MOBA title raised the eyebrows of esports fans. Pokémon Unite delivered a smooth 2024 for competitive scenarios and throwing decent events. And the game looks to deliver the same in the coming years as well.

Mobile esports spreading wings to the corners of the world, binding all the regions in a thread

The mainstream games in mobile esports were mostly Asia-centric from the beginning. We’re saying this because of the dominance of the SEA region in one of the leading mobile esports titles, Mobile Legends. Besides, PUBG Mobile is also taken away by the China and APAC teams. On the other hand, the Honor of Kings can’t escape from Chinese domination. If we consider the drivers of mobile esports, the competitive scene has, so far, centered on this side of the world.

However, Saudi’s effort to decentralize the esports scene came in handy for the others. We witnessed the MENA domination in big events and also strong teams are coming from the other side of the Atlantic. The Latin regions are stronger than ever now, fighting a throat-to-throat battle against the big names.

One of the examples would be HMBLE being the champion of Brawl Stars World Finals 2024. The European team showed the world that mobile esports is decentralized and dominance won’t be sustained for a long time. Other titles like Clash of Clans also proved the European might over everyone in the game’s esports scene. So, the mobile esports scene is binding the threads together to bring each region and event under the same roof to rise as a giant sector of digital entertainment.

New titles joining esports in 2025, making the scene more competitive

The esports scene is already massively packed with events. These year-long actions and drama will continue in 2025. New titles will come into the competitive arena as well. Among the games, MOONTON already announced the plan to introduce an esports ecosystem for Magic Chess: Go Go (MCGG) which will initiate in Indonesia and then expand in the SEA countries.

This will be an exciting thing to witness. As the game plans to take steps with caution, we can hope to watch its success. Indonesia is at the forefront of MOONTON’s esports plan, the event will start there. Upon reviewing the performance, it will expand to other countries. And, we know that none but SEA countries will see the events first.

Besides, the upcoming game Rainbow Six Mobile is already thinking to kickstart the esports scene. It will start with community events first, followed by global events later.

However, the arrival of these games will increase the competitiveness and try to snatch the viewership, sponsors, and interests of mobile gamers. If the title manages to make a separate fanbase, then this will give a boost to the mobile gaming community as well.

GamingonPhone’s esports Year in Review 2024: What to expect in 2025

The upcoming esports year in 2025 is undoubtedly going to be a great year to leap the mobile competitive scene forward. With big events already announced, all the leading and following titles will take charge to spread the aura to the corners of the world. The rapid expansion of the competition will also affect the players.

We will see more creators, players, and individuals connected to the mobile gaming community rise and new sensations get the limelight. Brand collaborations and joint events will work as a pillar to build a stronger foundation. Besides, several countries have initiated their own, government-backed esports events. This has become possible for regional and collective initiatives.

While the major titles managed to reach peak heights with their esports event and Mobile Legends leading the way, there’s a bitter side as well. The leading title in mobile esports has lost 20% of its viewership in 2024. The 2023 number was over 5M. Along with the MOBA game, CODM lost a marginal number.

However, other titles managed to boost their viewership and acceptance at a rocket-speed pace. Brawl Stars alone gained nearly a million viewership than what it had in 2023. Honor of Kings is another key player in this field. Besides, Free Fire also gained quite a number. Including everything, mobile esports is on the right track, hands down.

Roadmaps for 2025 are already live for the leaders, another exciting year to come

The titles are also revealing their esports roadmap for the coming year with a promise to elevate the experience, spending, and entertainment at full pace. PUBG Mobile’s esports circuit for 2025 promises to revamp the ecosystem. Apart from introducing new events, it will also bring new modes and maps. One of its successful international events, the PMGO, will make a comeback again in 2025 in Uzbekistan.

In line with PUBG Mobile, BGMI is not far behind in announcing the roadmap. KRAFTON India unveiled the BGMI esports roadmap for H1 2025 with new programs like the Rising Star initiative. The game will kick off 2025 with BGIS 2025 in January 2025.

The titles are innovative with their events to provide a unique experience to all the associated personnel. Mobile Legends’ esports roadmap for 2025 highlighted the M7 World Championship, MCGG esports, etc. The big events will take place in mid-year while professional leagues in several regions will kick off from the beginning of the year. One exciting thing for the game is the expansion of its footprint in China.

Supercell’s popular title Brawl Stars also announced the roadmap for 2025. It introduced new regions and an improved prize pool. The World Finals will take place along with the other two titles: Clash of Clans and Clash Royale which also have their distinct esports scene. Brawl Stars esports will feature new sub-regions, a USD 2 million prize pool, and improvements in competition.

Honor of Kings also has great plans ahead of entering 2025. After its successful completion of 2024 esports roadmap, the game preparing to enter a new era next year. The esports roadmap for 2025 promises global tournaments and third-party events, backed by the game itself.

As the coming year is going to be crucial for all the esports titles, they are up for taking the challenges. For example, Pokémon Unite already warmed up and is ahead of the others in planning the esports scene. It already announced the Pokémon World Championships for the next couple of years. The 2025 event will take place in Anaheim and San Francisco in 2026. With upcoming events like Pokémon UNITE ACL 2025 India League, the game decided its plan already for the regional events.

With so many things coming in 2025, this 2024 esports year is the sole creditor to receive applause. As we are on the verge of stepping into 2025, we can hope to see more interesting and intense things happen. That was all for GamingonPhone’s esports Year in Review 2024, we’ll see you in 2025!

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