PIF’s Savvy in talks to buy TikTok owner’s game studio

• Savvy covets Moonton Technology
• Discussions revive sale plan
• ByteDance paid $4bn in 2021

Savvy Games Group, a games and esports company wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), is reportedly in talks with China’s ByteDance to buy its gaming studio, Shanghai Moonton Technology.

The discussions revive ByteDance’s previously shelved plan to sell Shanghai Moonton Technology, the developer of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and role-playing game Crystal of Atlan, Bloomberg reported, quoting unidentified sources.

The talks are ongoing but may not result in a deal, the report said.

ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, acquired Moonton for nearly $4 billion in 2021.

• How Saudi Arabia became an esports superpower
• Saudi gaming company courts giants of Japan and South Korea
• PIF continues to trim stake in Japan’s Nintendo

Savvy Games, founded in 2021, is a major investor in global videogame companies, including Japan’s Nintendo. It agreed to acquire California-based Scopely, a mobile game developer, for $4.9 billion in 2023.

In September a group of investors led by PIF agreed to buy US videogame developer Electronic Arts for $55 billion.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman laid out a SAR142 billion ($37.8 billion) strategy for Savvy Games Group in September 2022 to make the kingdom “the ultimate global hub for the games and esports sector by 2030”.