| 2023 | |
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Mobile Legends: Bang Bang |
| Dates | December 2–17, 2023 |
| Administrator | Moonton |
Tournament format(s) | Group stage Single Round Robin Format Playoffs Double Elimination Format |
| Host(s) |  Philippines |
| Venue(s) | EVM Convention Center (Group Stage and Knockouts Stage 1) Rizal Memorial Coliseum (Knockouts Stage 2 and Grand Finals) |
| Teams | 16 |
| Purse | $900,000 |
| Website | https://m5.mobilelegends.com/ |
| Final positions | |
| Champion | AP Bren (2nd Title) |
| 1st runners-up |  ONIC Esports |
| 2nd runners-up | Blacklist International |
| Tournament statistics | |
| MVP | David "FlapTzy" Canon (AP Bren) |
| M5 Fan Choice Award | ONIC Esports |
The 2023 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship, commonly referred to as the M5 World Championships and M5, was the fifth edition of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship, an esports tournament for the mobile phone MOBA game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. The world championship lasted from November 23 until December 17, 2023.[1]
This edition of the world series foresaw an increase in regional and team participation with new entries including South Asia, Mekong, Mongolia and China.[2][3] Meanwhile, team qualifications for Latin America increased from one representative to two for this edition. Furthermore, this edition featured the first wild card event where eight (8) teams from the aforementioned regions including Malaysia, Europe, MENA, and LATAM were able to compete for two wildcard slots.[2]
M5 featured a higher prize pool than its predecessors with $900,000. This is the largest prize pool for any international Mobile Legends: Bang Bang competition and the largest pool of teams at the time.[4]
In the Grand Finals, AP Bren won the M5 World Championship title in seven games,[5] defeating Indonesia’s ONIC Esports.
AP Bren is the only organization to win two M-World titles twice, the first being during the M2 World Championships[6]—dubbed as the superstar studded roster which included synonymous veterans including Carlito Ribo Jr., Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno, David “FlapTzy” Canon, Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel, and Allan “Lusty” Castromayor Jr.
The M5 World Championship Grand Finals was the first series where an Indonesian and a Filipino team faced each other in the world series — most recently was the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup 2023 in Cambodia between Blacklist International and ONIC Esports.[7]
The Grand Finals match also broke the M4 World Championship’s Grand Finals viewership record—recording 5,067,107 peak live viewers during the match, making it the most-watched MLBB game in history and the second-most watched game in 2023,[8] just behind the 2023 League of Legends World Championship between T1 and Weibo Gaming.
- ^ "M5 World Championship: Schedule, format, teams, streams | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. December 17, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ a b "M5 Wildcard Slot sees Mongolia, South Asia, and more battle | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. June 18, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ "China takes final slot in M5 Wild Card". Spin.ph. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M5 World Championship: Everything you need to know". Yahoo News. November 23, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ Dioquino, Delfin (December 17, 2023). "AP.Bren extends PH's Mobile Legends dominance, outlasts Onic Esports to capture M5 crown". RAPPLER. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ Rossel, John Dave (January 24, 2021). "Bren Esports Are The Champions of M2 World Championship 2021". AFK Gaming. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ "ONIC Esports makes history, first team to win two MSC titles | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. June 19, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ "Popular esports games in 2023 by viewership". Esports Charts. 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2024.