TikTok operator ByteDance buys video gaming start-up in move likely to sharpen rivalry with Tencent

  • ByteDance operates the popular short video app Douyin, known as TikTok outside China, which competes with Tencent-backed Kuaishou and others

Yingzhi Yangin Beijing
The logo for ByteDance's Jinri Toutiao mobile app is displayed inside the company's headquarters in Beijing. Photo: Bloomberg

Beijing-based ByteDance has acquired 100 per cent of Shanghai-based mobile game developer Mokun Technology, as the world’s most valuable unicorn makes a further foray into video gaming.

Mokun, founded in 2013, became wholly owned by Beijing Zhaoxi Guangnian Technology recently, a subsidiary of ByteDance, according to public business registration information. Mokun’s executive chairman is currently Zhang Lidong, senior vice-president and legal representative at ByteDance. The Shanghai-based video gaming company was previously owned by 37 Interactive Entertainment, a Shenzhen-listed game developer.

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