Mobile esports sits at a scale that is difficult to ignore. The biggest viewership spikes, the widest player funnels, and some of the most ambitious live events are all happening on phones. The data from the past two years shows a consistent pattern. Mobile titles are not catching up. They already lead in several key metrics.
Global numbers set the baseline
In all-time peak viewership leaderboards, only League of Legends sits above the largest mobile titles. Free Fire holds more than 5.4 million peak viewers. MLBB follows at over 5 million. PUBG Mobile sits close to 4 million. These figures place them ahead of every major FPS and battle arena outside of League itself.
Recent rankings reinforce this trend. In Esports Charts’ list of most watched mobile titles for 2024, Mobile Legends topped the chart. PUBG Mobile followed, then Arena of Valor, Free Fire, and BGMI. The lineup reads like a confirmation that mobile esports has become a global viewing habit rather than a regional curiosity.
MLBB’s growth explains a big part of the picture
Mobile Legends has become one of the most watched competitive games in the world. M5 peaked at about 5.06 million viewers. M6 passed 4 million and recorded more than 85 million hours watched, which was higher than the previous year despite a lower peak.
MLBB’s presence at the Esports World Cup 2025 pushed the ceiling even further. With more than 50 million hours watched across the Mid Season Cup and the Women’s Invitational, MLBB alone took more than a quarter of the entire event’s total audience time. Few games, mobile or otherwise, can produce that kind of share in a multi-title event.
Honor of Kings brings its own version of scale
China’s Honor of Kings ecosystem operates on a level that surprises anyone who does not follow the scene closely. The game earned a Guinness World Record for the largest esports prize pool offered for a mobile title with its ten-million dollar championship fund. It also holds a separate Guinness record for live attendance, with more than 62 thousand people filling Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium for the KPL Grand Finals in 2025.
The international viewership continues to rise. The Honor of Kings World Cup 2025 reached a new peak of 653 thousand viewers. It also crossed three million hours watched, helped by new interest from outside China, including growing audiences in Southeast Asia.
PUBG Mobile remains a steady global pillar
While MLBB and Honor of Kings dominate Southeast Asian and Chinese fandoms, PUBG Mobile shows how well mobile esports travel across regions. PMGC 2024 recorded a peak of roughly 928 thousand viewers. The event maintained solid consistency year to year, supported by a three-million-dollar prize pool and a broad mix of teams from Europe, South Asia, MENA, and SEA.
The international reach gives PUBG Mobile one of the most widely distributed competitive ecosystems in mobile gaming. It may not hit multi-million peaks, but it delivers reliable numbers at a global scale.
Market realities explain why mobile leads
The audience for mobile games is massive. Industry reports estimate around three billion people play on mobile, which accounts for the majority of the global gaming population. Mobile gaming also generates nearly half of worldwide game revenue. This includes emerging markets where phones serve as the primary gaming device and mature markets where mobile spending continues to rise.
In Southeast Asia, mobile titles account for more than seventy percent of gaming revenue. Even Europe now earns more from mobile than PC. This scale naturally flows into esports. A larger player base creates more fans, more regional leagues, and more viewership spikes when major events roll around.
Mobile esports is not a trend
The numbers reflect a simple reality. People are already playing on phones, and they follow the games they play. When millions of players choose mobile titles as their main competitive games, the audience follows them into tournaments.
Mobile esports pulls the biggest crowds because the foundation is already there. The games are accessible. The player bases are huge. The viewing habits are established across regions. The scale is a result of usage rather than marketing, and the past two years of data make that clear.
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