ByteDance in advanced talks to sell Mobile Legends maker Moonton for $6-7 billion

ByteDance is in advanced talks to sell Shanghai-based Moonton Technology, the studio behind Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, to Savvy Games Group in a deal valued at between $6 billion and $7 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said. "A deal could be sealed as soon as this quarter," said one of the two sources. "The two companies have reached initial agreement on broad terms of the deal," said the second source. The sources declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Moonton, established in 2014, operates more than 2,000 employees across offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Latin America and China and describes itself as a "global video game company focused on game development, publishing and e-sports." Its flagship title Mobile Legends claims over 1.5 billion installations and more than 110 million monthly active users, and the company says the game ranks among the top 10 most played titles in over 80 countries.

ByteDance acquired Moonton in 2021 through its Nuverse gaming unit for about $4 billion. The potential sale would represent a sizeable uplift on that price and form part of a broader reshaping of ByteDance's gaming portfolio as the company grows its core social and advertising businesses. ByteDance has seen its valuation and scale rise sharply in recent years; its first- and second-quarter 2025 revenues both topped those of Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, making it the world’s number one social media company by sales in prior reporting.

Savvy Games Group is owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and presents itself as a global games and e-sports investor pursuing growth through acquisitions. The group has been acquisitive: it bought Scopely for $4.9 billion in 2023, and Scopely later acquired Niantic's game division in March for $3.5 billion. A successful Moonton acquisition would deepen Savvy's footprint in mobile multiplayer online battle arena games and add a high-engagement title with a large Asian and Latin American user base.

The transaction, if completed at the reported valuation, would underline two broad market trends: consolidation in mobile gaming and intensified sovereign wealth fund participation in strategic tech assets. For ByteDance, divesting Moonton would crystallize value for an asset bought five years earlier and allow redeployment of capital into areas aligned with its core platform and international expansion. For Savvy and PIF, the deal would be another step in building an integrated gaming portfolio spanning studios, publishers and distribution channels.

Not all reported details are uniform across outlets. One social-media industry post citing Bloomberg said talks had been paused in 2023 over valuation disagreements and recently resumed; that timeline has not been independently confirmed. An alternative and uncorroborated valuation figure published elsewhere, $60 billion to $70 billion, conflicts with the $6 billion to $7 billion range and appears to be a clear outlier.

The reported talks raise likely regulatory and political questions given cross-border ownership of a popular online game, and observers will watch for approvals in jurisdictions with national security or data concerns. For now, the matter remains in advanced negotiation, with the industry awaiting formal confirmation and terms.