Savvy Games, a gaming investment vehicle owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has entered an agreement with TikTok parent company ByteDance to buy Moonton Games for $6 billion. That’s only a billion or so shy of what Microsoft bought Bethesda for back in 2021. The deal is another sweeping move in the country’s ongoing campaign to buy up major players in the gaming industry.
“This acquisition directly supports Savvy’s purpose to enable prosperity and connection through play for generations to come, and our mission to drive long-term growth and innovation in games and esports,” Savvy CEO Brian Ward said in a press release. “Once completed, it will further strengthen our leadership in mobile games, deepen our talent pool, expand our global footprint, and enhance our reach across esports.”
Moonton is a Shanghai-based subsidiary of ByteDance that’s pursued free-to-play mobile hits. Those include the 2016 MOBA Mobile Legends: Bang Bang which has been downloaded over a billion times. More recently the company shipped co-op vertical shooter Acecraft which smashes together Cuphead‘s animation style with famous licensed cartoon characters.
Savvy purchased Monopoly Go maker Scopely in 2023 for $5 billion and Pokémon Go maker Niantic in 2025 for $3.5 billion, and has major stakes in Embracer, Take-Two, and esports events companies. Saudi Arabia’s gaming holdings extend far beyond Savvy, however, with stakes in Capcom, SNK Corporation, and several other gaming companies. Its current crown jewel is a $50 billion leveraged buyout to own Electronic Arts which is set to wrap up this summer.
The gaming industry continues hurtling toward rampant consolidation following major acquisitions by entities like Microsoft and investments by big players like Tencent. Of course, none of those companies are directly owned by a monarch who reportedly helped instigate the U.S.’s current war against Iran.