This Monday, ByteDance announced the acquisition of Moonton Technology through its video games unit, Nuverse. Moonton Technology is a Shanghai-based gaming studio renowned for its mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, Mobile Legend.
ByteDance advances to the game industry with Moonton Technology
According to Reuters, the deal for the Moonton Technology acquisition values at around $4 billion. While ByteDance refused to mention the size of the acquisition, the company released a statement saying, “Through cross-team collaboration and drawing on lessons and insights from its own rapid growth, Moonton provides the strategic support needed to accelerate Nuverse’s global gaming offerings”.
The acquisition is a part of ByteDance’s strategy to jump into the video games business. The owner of TikTok’s venture into the video games business will put the company in direct competition with China’s Tencent.
Moonton Technology itself was found by an ex-Tencent employee. Its MOBA game Mobile Legends is one of the most sought after games in Southeast Asia for quite some time. Apparently, Tencent has previously bid for Moonton. Though, Moonton finally chose ByteDance over Tencent.
Additionally, the CEO of Moonton, Yuan Jing, released an internal memo. Noted from Reuters, the memo reads that the company would still maintain independent operation despite the acquisition.
Read also: Another Rival for Clubhouse Coming from Bytedance
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