Saudi Arabian esports organizations Team Falcons and Twisted Minds have officially entered the MPL Philippines scene, taking over the slots vacated by Blacklist International and RSG PH ahead of the highly anticipated Season 15.
The league announced this groundbreaking development during an intimate luncheon at Chef Jessie’s in Makati City.
The event was graced by Grant Rousseau, Global Director of Esports for Team Falcons, and Ibrahim Bin Jibreen, CEO of Twisted Minds.
Joining them were the newly appointed country managers: Lexie Yambao, former team manager of RSG PH and now representing Twisted Minds; and Ren Vitug of Team Falcons, who also serves as the Tournament Director for the Philippine Esports Organization and Commissioner of The Nationals.
Both Team Falcons and Twisted Minds currently compete in MPL MENA and are expanding their reach to prepare for the upcoming 2025 Esports World Cup.
“I think we’ve all heard about the Esports World Cup – the EWC – created last year, and ML:BB was one of the games included in this event. It kind of forced us to look into this game. If we wanted to compete at the EWC, we needed to understand the game and identify where we could enter,” said Rousseau.
“The Philippine region is the strongest in this game from a performance perspective, and that’s what initially drew us here,” he added.
(C) MOONTON Games
Team Falcons already has experience in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s top region, having partnered with MPL PH powerhouse AP.Bren over the past year.
This collaboration resulted in a silver finish at the ML:BB Mid-Season Cup during last year’s EWC.
However, the team fell short of qualifying for the M6 World Championship after finishing third in MPL PH.
“You’ve seen our partnership with AP.Bren over the last year—it’s been Falcons AP.Bren. That collaboration allowed us to learn about the ML:BB scene in the Philippines, understand the fandom, explore marketing strategies, and figure out how to build a community,” Rousseau explained.
“We’ve been doing this for a year and have truly fallen in love with the fans, the game’s popularity, and the level of interaction between fans and teams. That’s when we decided, ‘It’s time for us to do this ourselves.’”
Having gained valuable experience from their partnership, Rousseau emphasized that the Philippines is the perfect location for Team Falcons to establish their base and expand their presence in Mobile Legends.
“Again, we’re here to compete and win. We know we can achieve that with a team from the Philippines, but beyond that, we see the immense potential of building a community, creating jobs, and developing a facility. The Philippines is the ideal home to build a sustainable and successful business centered around ML:BB,” said the 31-year-old British executive.
Similarly, Jibreen highlighted the thriving esports ecosystem in the Philippines and its immense pool of talent, which made the decision to expand operations to the country an easy one.
“Like Falcons Esports, we also wanted our own journey in the Philippines. We think Philippine Mobile Legends is the best in terms of competition and fandom. That’s why we decided to be here,” Jibreen shared.
