Smart Omega Empress (OMGE) emerged victorious at the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Women’s Invitational (MWI) 2024. On July 27, the Philippine team defeated France’s Team Vitality (VIT) in a clean sweep during the Best-Of-Five (BO5) Grand Finals, concluding VIT’s 24-match winning streak that began in 2021.
OMGE took home $180,000 from the $500,000 prize pool, the largest ever in women’s esports. Sheen “Shinoa” Perez was named the Finals Most Valuable Player (FMVP), receiving an additional $50,000.
The MWI, the premier MLBB esports tournament for female players, aims to provide a platform for women to pursue their esports ambitions. This year’s event was held at the Amazon Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the first time outside Southeast Asia, as part of the inaugural Esports World Cup. The tournament featured 12 international teams.
“The competitive women’s esports scene has taken a huge step forward with the MWI 2024,” said Ray Ng, head of Esports Ecosystem at Moonton Games. “We believe that esports is for everyone, so we’re delighted to have given the world’s best female athletes the stage and #TimeToShine. We’d also like to thank all of our fans who cheered the roof off the Amazon Arena.”
Record-breaking viewership
Smart Omega Empress’s roster includes Gold Laner Sheen “Shinoa” Perez, Jungler Kaye “Keishi” Alpuerto, Mid Laner Rica “Amoree” Amores, EXP Laner Gwyneth “Ayanami” Diagon, and Roamer Mery Christine “Meraaay” Vivero, led by Coach Salman “KingSalman” Macarambon.
“We want to give honor to our country,” said Meraaay, roamer, OMGE. “I hope we made our countrymen proud, including those who went to the venue to support us. It feels like a dream for all of us. We would like to take our hats off to Team Vitality who gave us a good fight. We can already call ourselves world champions.”
The MWI 2024 set a new viewership record, with the Grand Finals attracting 265,117 Peak Concurrent Viewers (PCV), surpassing the previous record of 179,024 PCV set at MWI 2023, according to Esports Charts.
“The MWI 2024 has achieved great viewership for mobile women’s esports,” said Artyom Odintsov, co-founder and CEO of Esports Charts. “The participation of the Indonesian team in the final played a significant role, as well as the substantial prize pool, which is one of the largest in women’s esports history. It now ranks among the top 3 most viewed mobile women’s esports events, along with the 32nd SEA Games and MWI 2022, highlighting the immense growth and increasing interest in women’s competitive gaming.”
“To all aspiring female MLBB players out there, continue what you’re doing, especially if it is something that you love,” Meraaay said. “We started from scratch, always almost losing every time, but we continued playing because we felt like this is something we love.”