EVOS Esports, one of Indonesia’s largest esports organizations, is set to return to the Philippines after a nearly two-year break. Aldean Tegar Gemilang, the Head of Esports at EVOS Esports, propagated the suspicions by writing a sneak peek posting a sneak glimpse of a tigers’ face with the Philippine flag color on his personal Instagram account. Bjorn “Zeys” Ong, EVOS Legends coach, also posted the same hint on his Instagram story.
Meanwhile, the EVOS Esports PH Facebook page posted a new status for the first time in nearly two years, indicating that the squad is on the verge of making a return. “Hello hello testing 1,2,3… Anyone here? #EVOSROAR” – A single tweet that attracted more than 30,000 engagements.
The return of EVOS Esports to the Philippines follows significant indications that the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines (MPL PH) may transition to a franchise-based format in the near future. EVOS is believed to be fighting for one of the eight spots available this coming season.
According to Tiebreaker Times, EVOS is now in negotiations to acquire Nexplay Esports’ roster, which includes many prominent players in the scene including John Paul “H2Wo” Salonga, Renejay “Renejay” Barcarse, and Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera. However, it is uncertain if EVOS intends to keep the present lineup or add some new faces to the mix.
EVOS Esports is not a newcomer to the Philippine esports scene. In 2019, they forayed into the Filipino scene by acquiring the roster of SxC Imbalance, who placed 4th in the second season of MPL PH. However, EVOS opted to withdraw, due to the poor team’s performance in Season Four. The roster was later sold to Tier One Entertainment’s Blacklist International, the current MPL-Philippines Season Seven champions.
“The decision to step back from the PH scene was decided after the EVOS management received complaints regarding the personnel entrusted to oversee the operations and team in the country. EVOS management takes serious views on such complaints and undertakes an internal investigation. We were upset with our findings including the welfare of our players were compromised, mismanagement of the company’s assets.” EVOS Esports stated on its withdrawal two years ago.
If this venture happens, EVOS will be one of the first organizations to enter numerous Southeast Asian nations while maintaining top-tier teams in each country’s franchise simultaneously, in this case, a Mobile Legends: Bang Bang franchise teams.
In terms of the franchise system, Hybrid has detailed the differences between MPL franchise systems in several Southeast Asian nations in Bahasa, which can be found here.
So far, the Jakarta-based organization has numerous MLBB rosters across Southeast Asia, including EVOS Legends in Indonesia, Suhaz EVOS in Malaysia, and EVOS Legends in Thailand. This still excludes their non-flagship teams, EVOS Icon and EVOS Lynx. The former is a Mobile Legends Development League (MDL) team, Indonesia’s second-tier league behind the MPL, while the latter is a professional women’s team.
