TikTok owner Bytedance reportedly purchased the ownership of Moonton Technology, known for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
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| Moonton's Mobile Legends: Bang Bang |
Bytedance now owns Moonton
In an announcement made by TikTok, its gaming unit called "Nuverse" plans to expand its gaming business and has agreed to purchase the popular game developer Moontoon Technology at around USD 4 billion (around PHP 194 billion).
Bytedance seems to show its strong intention in entering the gaming market and has seen the potential of Mobile Legends.
As the representative of Bytedance says "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 CEO of Moonton, Yuan Jing claims in its internal memo that they will still operate as an independent structure after being purchased by Bytedance. But he can no longer disseminate more information about this as he is not authorized to talk to the media.
Tencent, a Chinese technology conglomerate also tried acquiring Moonton in a bid last week but its offer got matched by Bytedance. Little is known as to why Tencent tried to acquire its nemesis. Few people were aware that Moonton was created by a former Tencent employee. Multiple lawsuits regarding copyright were filed by Tencent against Moonton so it could hint that they may be trying to put an end to all copyright cases by eventually acquiring their nemesis and put it under Tencent's Belt.
Now that Bytedance owns currently one of the hottest mobile MOBA this gives them the opportunity to compete with the likes of Honor of Kings and the League of Legends franchise including the Wild Rift which both owned by Tencent. The acquisition can also be a breakthrough for Moontoon now that it will have a parent company that can support them.
