Moonton co-founder Justin Yuan, centre, at the company’s Epicon 2019 conference. ByteDance acquired Moonton for US$4 billion in an effort to bolster its gaming offerings in Southeast Asia and compete with Tencent. Photo: Mobile Legends Japan/Twitter
Moonton co-founder Justin Yuan, centre, at the company’s Epicon 2019 conference. ByteDance acquired Moonton for US$4 billion in an effort to bolster its gaming offerings in Southeast Asia and compete with Tencent. Photo: Mobile Legends Japan/Twitter

Bitter gaming war between ByteDance and Tencent a windfall for independent Chinese studios

  • ByteDance’s acquisition of Moonton in March increased the studio’s value sevenfold from a few months earlier and came after it cancelled a deal with Tencent
  • Tencent has already invested more in gaming studios this year than in all of 2020 amid a bidding war with ByteDance

Moonton co-founder Justin Yuan, centre, at the company’s Epicon 2019 conference. ByteDance acquired Moonton for US$4 billion in an effort to bolster its gaming offerings in Southeast Asia and compete with Tencent. Photo: Mobile Legends Japan/Twitter
Moonton co-founder Justin Yuan, centre, at the company’s Epicon 2019 conference. ByteDance acquired Moonton for US$4 billion in an effort to bolster its gaming offerings in Southeast Asia and compete with Tencent. Photo: Mobile Legends Japan/Twitter
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