Recently, TikTok’s owner ByteDance acquires a Shanghai-based game company Moonton by approximately $4 billion.

On March 22, Yuan Jing, Moonton CEO, announced via an internal memo, that the company had reached a strategic acquisition agreement with ByteDance. After the acquisition is completed, the company will join ByteDance and remain independent, and Mr. Yuan will continue to serve as CEO.

In response to the news of the acquisition, the person in charge of ByteDance’s game business Nuverse, responded to the media that it had indeed acquired Moonton, and that Moonton would continue to develop overseas markets.

According to Reuters, the acquisition is wholly owned and the deal is valued at approximately $4 billion.

Founded in 2014, Shanghai-based Moonton Technology is known for developing the MOBA game “Mobile Legends”.

According to data from Sensor Tower, Mobile Legends has received nearly 400 million downloads in the global App Store and Google Play since its launch in September 2016, of which 67% came from the Southeast Asian market. The game received nearly 6.4 million downloads in February 2021.

Moonton and Tencent have been involved in some lawsuits. Just recently, Tencent appealed again to Moonton, this time in a commercial defamation dispute. And the court date was set for July 8, 2021. This means that once ByteDance acquires Moonton, it will also be involved in a lawsuit with Tencent.