In a surprising turn of events, RRQ Hoshi has announced the discontinuation of their Battle Emote set and suggested they will not be participating in any future exclusive collaborations with MLBB’s publisher, Moonton. This move suggests RRQ is venturing beyond MLBB, potentially forming a new partnership with a competitor.
According to the announcement, RRQ’s management revealed that the RRQ edition Battle Emote would no longer be available for purchase in the MLBB game after Monday, May 28. However, they assured fans who have already purchased the emote that they would retain access to use it anytime in the game.
The organization further explained that they have voluntarily ended their partnership to release cosmetic items in MLBB. This decision stems from their intention to collaborate with a game publisher outside of Moonton. Despite this shift, RRQ emphasized that the end of this partnership would not impact their position in the MLBB Pro League Indonesia circuit.
“The RRQ Battle Emote will no longer be available for purchase in MLBB starting May 27, 2024. Although fans will be unable to purchase the Battle Emote after the specified date, those who have bought it would still be able to use it in the game,” RRQ stated. “We have chosen to work with another game publisher and have decided to voluntarily withdraw from the Battle Emote program until further notice.”
Although RRQ did not explicitly name the new game publisher, many of their dedicated fans speculate that this move is related to their involvement in the Honor of Kings esports circuit, which is anticipated to be MLBB’s biggest competitor in Southeast Asia. Weeks ago, they openly announced the search for professional HoK players from the region.
Interestingly, it seemed other esports organizations across Southeast Asia have been aware of this consequence and planned new divisions to maintain their partnership with Moonton while simultaneously joining the HoK esports scene. For example, Bigetron created an independent unit called Back to Retro, and Blacklist International moved their G2 Blacklist unit to the HoK competitive scene.
This development is not entirely unexpected, given that in previous years, several esports’ organizations participating in MPL ID opted to leave mobile MOBA competitions outside of MLBB to avoid jeopardizing exclusive partnership contracts with Moonton. Even RRQ’s CEO Andrian “AP” Pauline once took a jab at Moonton’s business policy.
Tencent’s offer, as the publisher of HoK, seems to be too good for a prestigious organization like RRQ to pass up. Clearly it is compelling enough that they’ve decided to end their exclusive partnership with MLBB.
