TikTok owner ByteDance reportedly in talks to divest Mobile Legends studio Moonton to Saudi-owned Savvy Games Group

It has been reported that ByteDance, the company behind TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin, is currently in talks to sell Mobile Legends: Bang Bang developer Moonton to Savvy Games Group, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The details:

• According to reports from Bloomberg, ByteDance has reopened negotiations to sell the developer of the massively popular mobile MOBA Mobile Legends: Bang Bang to Savvy Games Group, though the talks are said to still be in the early stages. However, it is noted that the deal may not go ahead at all, especially since the PIF publicly confirmed that it was slowing down its investments due to financial concerns after a string of poorly performing acquisitions.
• The Chinese tech conglomerate originally acquired Moonton in 2021 for approximately $4 billion and had previously considered divesting the studio in 2023. Since the acquisition, MLBB has become one of the world’s biggest mobile games and esports, especially in Southeast Asia, with viewer numbers for its World Championship placing it just second behind League of Legends’ Worlds.
• While ByteDance has continued to move away from the gaming industry with the sale of its gaming division to Tencent last year, Savvy Games Group and the PIF are currently involved in the pending acquisition of EA. If it acquires Moonton, it would be a significant addition to their rapidly expanding gaming and esports portfolio, which already includes event organizer ESL FACEIT Group and mobile giant Scopely, and essentially confirms that the MLBB Mid-Season Cup tournament will remain a part of the Esports World Cup circuit.