


The reason Moonton approached Is Yuniarto is to included Gatotkaca from Garudayana as a playable character in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang to promote the game, attracting local audiences as well as boosting the game popularity in Indonesia. On 11 August 2015, Is Yuniarto stated on his Facebook page that he has officially cooperated to release the comic which is now in its fifth saga with one of the most famous online comic publishers in Japan, Digital Catapult, in which Garudayana comic originally only available in indonesian language, now also available for English and Japanese language for audiences outside Indonesia. The Garudayana comic series was published by numerous comic publishers in Indonesia such as Koloni (Original imprint version), Curhat Anak Bangsa (Garudayana Saga), Webtoon (Digital comic), and CIAYO Comics (Web comic). In June 2017, Moonton approached Is Yuniarto, an Indonesian comic book artist that best known for Garudayana, a Javanese action fantasy comic series from Indonesia. To commemorate the partnership, Moonton also launched a character based on Pacquiao in the game known as Paquito. In November 2020, Moonton announced Filipino professional boxer Manny Pacquiao as the brand ambassador for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in the Philippines. Moonton regularly collaborates with Southeast Asian countries to create new characters from their respective histories or folklore to further increase the game's appeal, introducing characters such as Lapu Lapu (Philippines), Minsitthar (based on Kyansittha Myanmar), Kadita (based on Nyai Roro Kidul Indonesia), and Badang (Malaysia).

It later grew to 70 by November 2018, and as of December 2020, 103 heroes are in the live server. Mobile Legends initially had 10 heroes upon its release in 2016. Weaker computer-controlled characters, called "minions", spawn at team bases and follow the three lanes to the opposite team's base, fighting enemies and turrets. The two opposing teams fight to reach and destroy the enemy's base while defending their own base for control of a path, the three "lanes" known as "top", "middle", and "bottom", which connects the bases. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game designed for mobile phones.
