Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) is no longer available to download or playable in the United States due to the ban on ByteDance-owned companies, including the popular short-form video-sharing platform TikTok. Here’s what we know so far.
Why is Mobile Legends Bang Bang not available in the US?
The ban of MLBB comes after TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, took a hit to their US operations on Jan. 18. As we explained in our article discussing its impact on Marvel Snap, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act ordered ByteDance to divest from TikTok and its other applications, selling TikTok and its other apps to an entity that isn’t based in China by Jan. 18.
Failing this, the law prohibits any US company from “distributing, maintaining or updating” the applications—effectively meaning a removal from app stores. While players in the country were anticipating a ban on TikTok, the ban on these games and many other apps came as a surprise to many.
Moonton, the developer and publisher behind the game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, is owned by the Nuverse brand, which is a subsidiary of ByteDance and is based in Shanghai, China. Players in the United States received an error message while opening the game today, stating, “We are sorry that Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is not currently available in your country or region(USA),” asking them to visit the official website for further information.
There, Moonton’s statement reads, stating that “Due to circumstances beyond our control, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is currently unavailable to players in the US. We deeply value our vibrant player community and are actively exploring possibilities to bring the game back in the future,” the developer said while providing links to export their game data and account deletion requests for players who want to shift to another region or delete their account completely.
According to Esports Charts, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is one of the most popular esports mobile titles in the world, which reached over 5 million concurrent viewers with its esports events in 2023. The ban will definitely affect esports players in the region and the uncertainty of the situation at the time of writing.
The Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, explained
U.S. lawmakers have repeatedly targeted TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, over concerns related to national security stemming from the fact that the China-based business entity is required by local law to share its user data information with the Chinese government. After multiple failed attempts, the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act passed last March with a bipartisan majority in the House, and it was signed into law seven weeks later. TikTok argued its case in front of the Supreme Court, but the justices ultimately upheld the standing decision.
ByteDance hasn’t divested since, and the ban has taken effect on Jan. 18. Among others, it has also affected TikTok’s sister app, Lemon8. Video editing app CapCut, AI homework helper Gauth, photo editing tool Hypic, workspace comms tool Lark, and others, like Melolo, Fizzo, MyTopia Books, and Tokopedia are also now unavailable in the United States.
Incoming president Donald Trump was previously a big proponent of banning the platform, but he has changed his mind recently, calling the decision a dangerous precedent and suggesting that he’d offer a 90-day grace period to TikTok once taking office so that a solution could be found. He made no reference to Mobile Legends Bang Bang.
