ByteDance, owners of one of the largest mobile platforms -TikTok - has made a move to expand its reach by acquiring Mobile Legends studio, Moonton.
ByteDance's video games unit Nuverse reportedly made the move to acquire Moonton Technology at a $4 billion valuation, as per multiple sources who told Reuters. Mobile Legends Is Now Owned by ByteDance
Moonton Technology was founded by an ex-Tencent employee. It is the studio responsible for a handful of mobile titles, most notably, Mobile Legends. Mobile Legends is widely considered one of the most popular mobile MOBAs in the world. However, much of its extensive player base is located in Southeast Asia.
According to Reuters, sources familiar with the situation claimed that Tencent made a bid to acquire Moon. But, just last week, ByteDance decided to match the offer, resulting in the acquisition of the Shanghai-based company.
An anonymous source also told Reuters that Moonton will continue to operate independently, as per Moonton CEO Yuan Jing's decree.
With Mobile Legends in the fold, ByteDance has proven that they are serious about getting into the video game industry.
But, perhaps, more importantly, it'll be interesting to see how Tencent and Riot Games respond to this.