A Reuters report revealed that ByteDance is in advanced talks to Shanghai Moonton Technology, the studio behind the popular mobile game “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang” to Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group. This deal is valued between $6 billion and $7 billion. Sources said that a deal could be finalized as soon as this quarter, according to the report, which also revealed the two companies have reached initial agreement on broad terms of the deal.
Moonton, which was established in 2014, describes itself as a global video game company focused on game development, publishing and e-sports, according to its website. It claims to have more than 2,000 employees and operates offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Latin America and China. Montoon also says in its website that “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang” has over 1.5 billion installations and more than 110 million monthly active users, and ranks among the top 10 most played games in over 80 countries.
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TikTok-parent ByteDance had bought Moonton in 2021 via its gaming unit Nuverse with the deal valuing the studio at around $4 billion. In 2023, it said it is restructuring its gaming business after a review. This deal with Savvy Games would mark ByteDance’s retreat from gaming, despite its costly attempts to compete with rival Tencent.
Savvy Games Group, owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is a global games and e-sports company pursuing growth through acquisitions, investments and commercial ventures, according to its website.
This transaction would mark one of the largest cross-border acquisitions of a Chinese gaming company. Savvy has had previous business dealings with Chinese companies, including $265 million investment in 2023 in Shanghai-based e-sports company VSPO, which has since rebranded to be called Hero Esports.
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Brian Ward, who leads Savvy, told FT last year that geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China created an opportunity for Savvy to do deals in the region. The company came as part of a wider drive by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. However, Savvy was not directly involved in last year’s PIF-backed $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts, the Silicon Valley-based maker of Battlefield and The Sims.
Savvy’s biggest acquisitions have been in the U.S. These include its 2023 acquisition of Los Angeles-based Scopely, which runs the hugely popular Monopoly Go mobile game, as well as last year’s $3.5 billion deal with Niantic to buy Pokémon Go and a handful of other titles.