With a USD 49,000 prize pool and potential remote employment opportunities, the contest reinforces MLBB as a global platform for creator talent and original design

MOONTON Games officially launched the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Global Skin Design Contest 2026, inviting artists, illustrators, and creators from around the world to submit original hero skin concepts under the theme "Era of Awakening: The Clash of Two Destinies". 

Artists and creators can submit their entries from now until 21 June 2026. Full contest rules and submission requirements are available at this link. 

The contest reflects MOONTON Games' broader belief that creativity is a core part of how the company grows with its global community. By giving artists a route to showcase their work on one of the world's most recognised mobile gaming platforms, MOONTON aims to cultivate new creative talent while expanding the artistic possibilities of the MLBB universe. 

The contest offers a total prize pool of USD$49,000. Outstanding artists whose design concepts closely match MLBB's visual direction may also be offered remote employment opportunities to work with MOONTON Games' global creative team and co-create future hero skins. 

"We hope that through hosting competitions, offering prize incentives, and establishing an employment channel, we can help creators reach international platforms like MLBB and showcase their original concepts to the world", said Ma Hui, Senior Concept Designer of MLBB and judge of the competition.

The contest will be judged by leading names from the global game art and concept design fields, including: 

• Ma Hui, Senior Concept Designer of MLBB

• Wenjun Lin, Chief Artist of MLBB and a critically acclaimed Computer Graphics (CG) artist

• Adrian Smith, internationally recognised concept artist known for his work on iconic IPs such as 'Warhammer 40,000' and 'Magic: The Gathering'

• Ben Zhang, Principal Concept Artist of 'Overwatch', and contributor to the visual design of titles such as  'Hearthstone' and 'Diablo' 

Their involvement reflects the contest's ambition to be more than a community campaign. It is designed as a global meeting point for creators, professional artists, and the MLBB creative team to exchange ideas and explore what hero skin design can become across different cultures, styles, and artistic backgrounds. 

The contest also builds on MOONTON Games' broader commitment to creativity as a core part of the company's culture and future direction. From hero design and world-building to music, esports presentation, and community-led content, MOONTON continues to invest in creative disciplines that shape how players experience MLBB around the world. 

This focus was recently recognised at the 2026 NYX Game Awards, where MOONTON Games' in-house music and audio production team, Moontunes Studios, won two Grand Winner titles for Mobile Game – Best Music and Mobile Game – Best Audio Design for MLBB. The recognition highlights how MOONTON Games is building creative capabilities across multiple disciplines, not only gameplay. "We look forward to seeing the collision and integration of different cultural backgrounds and art styles, and also hope that more outstanding creators can use the MLBB stage to showcase their works to global players", said Wenjun Lin, MLBB Chief Artist and contest judge.

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APPENDIX 

Contest Theme: Era of Awakening - The Clash of Two Destinies 

The world was once whole, until a great upheaval tore reality apart, giving birth to two civilizations in separate dimensions. 

Theme 1: The Awakened Civilisation 

A world ruled by technology, where the Awakened can rewrite the codes of reality. Society is redefined by a cruel hierarchy of superpowers—the low-tier look up to the high-tier as mortals look up to gods. 

Theme 2: The Immortal Bloodline Civilization 

Immortality is a curse; no one can truly die. Swords and magic cannot end life. Legend has it that an ancient bloodline possesses the power to grant "true death"—what they seek is not immortality, but salvation. 

Now, the two civilisations meet in a rift in time and space. Choose your theme, create your hero skin series, and let the world remember your choice. 

In this contest, you need to choose one of the two themes and design a hero skin series for it. Each participant must select one hero from five different lanes to create a complete skin series, and briefly explain your creative ideas in text, leading us into the civilised world you have created.

Selected Heroes for the Contest

Submission Guidelines

1. Theme Selection: Each participant is limited to one theme and must create a complete skin series based on it.

2. Design Content: Complete a full set of character design images, including hero skins for 5 different lanes.

3. Submission Composition: A group display image composed of the finished drafts of 5 characters, the design process drafts of the 5 characters (such as sketches, line drafts, process renderings, etc.), and a brief description of your creative thoughts/ideas.

4. Design Principles: The character's temperament and silhouette must match the original image of the selected MLBB hero.

5. Image Quality Requirements: The character design draft must have a resolution of no less than 300dpi and a width of at least 8000px.

6. Submission Format: PNG + PSD, single file size not exceeding 50MB. 

Participation Guidelines 

1. Eligibility: Artists from all over the world can participate in this Contest, regardless of age, nationality, or professional background. Participation is limited to individual artists; team works are not eligible for the Contest.

2. New Creation Requirements: Entries must be brand new works created specifically for this contest that have never been publicly published, and must not be based on the works, film and television, game projects, or existing IPs of other artists.

3. Originality Requirements: All entries must be original, and the use of generative AI tools to create all or part of the content is strictly prohibited. Any detected use of AI will result in disqualification. The Organizer reserves the right to revoke any awarded titles and reclaim all prize money disbursed, if any.

4. Entry Submission: All works must be submitted through the official page of this contest and can be modified before the deadline.

5. Judging Method: This contest is judged by a jury of 4 top industry artists. In the preliminary screening stage, each judge will review the entries and nominate their selections. Any work that receives at least one nomination will successfully advance to the final review; in the final review stage,the jury will conduct a second round of voting for the finalists. Winners will be determined based on the total number of votes received, ranked from highest to lowest. In the event of a tie in the final vote count, the jury will reach a decision through collective consultation to determine the final ranking. The jury’s decision is final and legally binding; the Organizer will not entertain any appeals regarding the results.

6. Judging Criteria: The judging will be based on a comprehensive evaluation of the creative originality, artistic expression, and compatibility with the theme of the works.

7. Intellectual Property: By submitting an entry to the Contest, all participants are deemed to have permanently and irrevocably transferred the full copyright of the entry to the Organizer. The specific transfer of rights is subject to the Copyright Transfer Agreement signed by the participant.

8. Prohibited Content: Entries must not contain any illegal, infringing, defamatory, obscene, discriminatory, or privacy-violating content.

9. Rules Acceptance Statement: Participants should carefully read the relevant rules and information (including participation guidelines, award notices, contest rules, etc.) upon registration. Once successfully registered, participants are deemed to agree and comply with all rules of the Contest. The Organizer reserve the right to take measures such as removing entries, disqualifying participants, revoking awards, and reclaiming prize money against authors or entries that violate the rules.

10. Legal Liability: Participants shall bear full legal responsibility for their entries. If any third party files a claim or lawsuit against the Contest organizing committee, or causes the Organizer to suffer any penalties due to the entry or the participant's behavior, the participant shall bear all losses suffered by the Organizer (including but not limited to compensation, fines, attorney fees, litigation costs, preservation fees, appraisal fees, notarization fees, and other reasonable expenses). If the Organizer has already borne the cost, it has the right to seek full compensation from the participant.

11. Submission Deadline: The submission deadline for the Contest is 24:00 (UTC+8) on Friday, June 19, 2026.

12. Winner Announcement: All winners will be announced on the official website of the Contest in July 2026.

13. Right of Interpretation: Within the scope of the rules of this Contest, the Organizer has the right to interpret the rules. If there are any matters not covered by the rules or disputes, the Organizer will handle them based on the principles of fairness and justice.