ByteDance, the Chinese company owner of popular entertainment platform Tiktok, is reportedly talking to potential buyers of its daughter company, Moonton Technology, the developer behind one of the most popular MOBAs and considerably one of the largest mobile eSports titles in the world today, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
Mobile Legends has a prominent competitive gaming scene with franchised professional leagues in Asia, which later expanded across the globe with its growing community. In 2021, ByteDance acquired Moonton Technology for a value of $4 billion in the hope of becoming one of the major players in the growing market of video games globally. However, Moonton’s post-acquisition performance was not able to fulfill expectations, with no notable releases since the success of Mobile Legends.
With that, reports are circulating stating that ByteDance is looking to potentially put Moonton Technology on sale for the parent company to focus on its major business as the company’s entry into the gaming industry faces various challenges along the way. Having said that, earlier this month, a virtual reality manufacturer, Pico, under ByteDance, underwent layoffs to slash costs as its sales have been quite slow. And last year, ByteDance’s game development studio, 101 Studio, was also shuttered.
Following ByteDance looking for potential buyers, companies are rumored to have already discussed the company acquisition, and at least one Saudi-based firm is involved in the said discussion. However, a report states that the meeting remains at an early stage and a deal is not yet guaranteed.
The potential sale of Moonton comes at an interesting time, with other game developers and publishers within the field of gaming being acquired this year, including Activision Blizzard, which has been successfully purchased by tech giant Microsoft for $68.7 billion.
A Moonton representative has refused to make any comments regarding this speculation and it has not yet been confirmed by ByteDance.
Mobile Legends has a prominent competitive gaming scene with franchised professional leagues in Asia, which later expanded across the globe with its growing community. In 2021, ByteDance acquired Moonton Technology for a value of $4 billion in the hope of becoming one of the major players in the growing market of video games globally. However, Moonton’s post-acquisition performance was not able to fulfill expectations, with no notable releases since the success of Mobile Legends.
With that, reports are circulating stating that ByteDance is looking to potentially put Moonton Technology on sale for the parent company to focus on its major business as the company’s entry into the gaming industry faces various challenges along the way. Having said that, earlier this month, a virtual reality manufacturer, Pico, under ByteDance, underwent layoffs to slash costs as its sales have been quite slow. And last year, ByteDance’s game development studio, 101 Studio, was also shuttered.
Following ByteDance looking for potential buyers, companies are rumored to have already discussed the company acquisition, and at least one Saudi-based firm is involved in the said discussion. However, a report states that the meeting remains at an early stage and a deal is not yet guaranteed.
The potential sale of Moonton comes at an interesting time, with other game developers and publishers within the field of gaming being acquired this year, including Activision Blizzard, which has been successfully purchased by tech giant Microsoft for $68.7 billion.
A Moonton representative has refused to make any comments regarding this speculation and it has not yet been confirmed by ByteDance.
