ByteDance takes on video gaming with Moonton acquisition
By Ramla Soni
12:26, 23 March 2021
ByteDance has acquired mobile gaming studio Moonton as it seeks to expand into the video game industry and compete against Chinese giant Tencent.
TikTok owner ByteDance is looking to diversify beyond advertising and dip into the $86bn (£62bn, €72bn) mobile gaming market as well as expand its footprint internationally.
ByteDance’s gaming arm Nuverse, which was founded in 2019, is behind the acquisition. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
“Moonton is the perfect partner to help expand our gaming strategy in international markets,” ByteDance said in a statement.
Moonton is famous for “Mobile Legends”, a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game where teams fight each other in large virtual arenas.
It is widely popular in southeast Asia, where last year ByteDance partnered with gaming firm Gravity to release “Ragnarok X: Next Generation” in the region.
Tencent is the current world leader in mobile gaming. It has managed to achieve this over the past few years via acquisitions and taking strategic stakes in smaller companies as well as developing its own titles, allowing it to expand internationally.
ByteDance said its short video app, known as Douyin in China, had 600 million daily active users last year whilst TikTok in international markets had 700 million monthly active users