Azwin Nugraha, the Public Relations Officer of Moonton Indonesia, recently shed light on the reasons why the Philippines was chosen as the host for the upcoming M5 World Championship. The selection of the Philippines as the host for M5 was previously announced after the conclusion of the M4 World Championship.
Contrary to popular belief, Nugraha explained that the decision to select the Philippines as the host for M5 was not solely based on the country’s previous achievements in the Mobile Legends scene. Although Filipino teams have been consistently victorious in the last three editions of the M Series, Nugraha stated that the decision was also made based on the country’s thriving Mobile Legends market.
Speaking on the Upoint Esports podcast, Nugraha revealed that the objective criteria for selecting a host country includes “looking at which market is the largest after Indonesia.”
“So how to choose the host is first, if we look from an objective business perspective, which market is the largest after Indonesia, because previously M4 was held in Indonesia, which is the second reason for the Philippines,” he continued.
In addition to market size, Nugraha emphasized the significance of community support as another important criterion. He cited Indonesia and the Philippines as having the largest Mobile Legends communities in the region, which makes them eligible to be considered as potential hosts for M Series events.
“Then the second is the community in these regions, is the Mobile Legends community big in these regions? First, of course, Indonesia, and secondly, the Philippines again,” said Azwin.
While the selection of the Philippines as the host for M5 presents a favorable opportunity for Filipino teams to succeed on their home turf, Nugraha stated that the ultimate goal is to make the host of the M Series more diverse in the future. He mentioned that regions such as Brazil and Turkey have shown significant improvements in terms of market size and community support, which makes them strong candidates for future M Series events.
Several countries have had the honor of hosting the M Series in the past, including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. According to the competition roadmap for 2023, Moonton is set to hold the M5 in December 2023.
