Report: ByteDance in talks to sell Mobile Legends studio Moonton for $6B–$7B

ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, is reportedly in advanced talks to sell Moonton Technology, the studio best known for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, to Savvy Games Group. The price being discussed is said to be between $6 billion and $7 billion. For those unfamiliar with the game, Mobile Legends is a League of Legends inspired mobile MOBA. It’s fair to even call it a League of Legends clone given the similarities.

The report comes from Reuters, which cites sources claiming the two sides have reached an initial agreement on broad terms. If things keep moving, the deal could close by the end of this quarter.

No one involved is really talking on the record. Savvy Games Group reportedly declined to comment, while ByteDance and Moonton didn’t respond to requests for comment.

This isn’t totally out of the blue. ByteDance has been linked to Moonton sale rumors for a while, including reports last year that it was considering divesting the Shanghai-based developer. Reuters frames the potential sale as a major step back from online games for ByteDance, which previously confirmed it was in discussions to sell its games business in 2024.

Savvy Games Group is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has been building a big footprint across games through stakes in multiple major publishers and platform holders.

Unrelated gameplay video for those curious what Mobile Legends looks like: