The mobile esports landscape in the Philippines has been dramatically shaken by a viral graphic claiming that the Philippines Kings League (PKL) Fall Grand Finals for Honor of Kings soared to a peak online viewership "10X bigger" than the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines (MPL PH) Season 16 Grand Finals.
This bold statement has sparked intense debate among Filipino esports fans, a community long dominated by Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB). But does the data support this monumental shift in viewership?
The Viral Viewership Showdown
The graphic in question, circulating widely, highlights the PKL Fall Grand Finals for Honor of Kings, which crowned Blacklist International as its champion. While the screenshot shows a momentary peak of 140,000 live viewers for the PKL game, the accompanying MPL PH Season 16 screenshot shows a significantly lower figure of just 11,000 live viewers at the moment it was taken.
Based on this specific snapshot, the claim of a massive viewing gap seems to hold true. However, it’s crucial to look at the official, sustained peak viewership data for the entirety of both tournaments to get a true picture.
The Official Peak Viewership Reality
While the viral image serves as a powerful statement for the rapid rise of Honor of Kings in the Philippines, official esports tracking data paints a clearer, albeit still concerning, picture for the established giant, MPL PH.
* PKL Fall Season 2025 Peak Viewers (Honor of Kings): Official data confirms a strong debut for the new league, with a documented peak viewership of around 149,000 concurrent viewers during the event.
* MPL PH Season 16 Peak Viewers (MLBB): According to reputable esports data platforms, the MPL PH Season 16 (which was still in its regular season/early playoffs phase during the PKL finals) recorded a season peak of approximately 460,000 concurrent viewers during its most popular match.
While the PKL's initial peak of 149K viewers is a phenomenal success for a newly established league, it has not yet eclipsed the all-time or even the recent season-peak records set by MPL PH.
A Wake-Up Call for the Mobile Esports Giant
The true takeaway from this viral comparison isn't that PKL has won the war, but that it has fired a massive opening salvo. The 100K+ viewership for an inaugural season of Honor of Kings proves there is massive appetite for new, high-production mobile esports content in the Philippines, a market that has been the undisputed global heartland of MLBB for years.
The pressure is now squarely on Moonton and the MPL PH organizers to ensure Season 16's playoffs and Grand Finals can maintain the league's legacy and record-breaking numbers. MPL PH Season 15, for instance, set a previous record of 1.8 Million Peak Viewers, a figure the new PKL league will have to work hard to reach.
The rise of PKL signals a new, competitive era for Philippine mobile esports. With Blacklist International—a legendary MLBB team—now also claiming the PKL championship, the rivalry between the two titles will only intensify, benefiting fans who now have more high-stakes professional esports to follow.
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