Saudi Arabia Agrees to Acquire Moonton for Rp 101 Trillion

Saudi-based gaming company Savvy Games Group is reportedly set to acquire Moonton studio from ByteDance for a value of $6 billion (approximately Rp 101 trillion). Moonton is known as the developer of popular mobile games Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) and Magic Chess Go Go (MCGG), which have a large player base in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. Meanwhile, Savvy Games Group is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Saudi Arabia itself is ambitious to become one of the world’s gaming industry hubs. Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward stated that this agreement is part of Savvy’s aggressive steps to strengthen its mobile gaming business. “This also simultaneously expands the company’s reach in the global e-sports industry,” Brian told Bloomberg news agency, as quoted by KompasTekno on Sunday (22/3/2026). Moonton’s routinely held e-sports competitions include the MLBB Professional League (MPL) events in various countries, as well as the annual world championship M-World Championship. The acquisition of Moonton adds to the long list of Savvy Games Group’s investments in the global gaming industry. Previously, the company acquired game developer Scopely in 2023, and was involved in the purchase of Niantic’s gaming business, including the game Pokémon Go. This step is part of Saudi Arabia’s grand strategy to diversify its economy beyond the oil sector, while positioning the country as a global centre for entertainment and gaming industries. In this agreement, Moonton’s employees will be retained with no layoffs. Moonton’s employees are also reportedly to receive incentive programmes as part of the ownership transition. Previously, ByteDance was known to be reducing its gaming business after struggling to compete with major Chinese companies like Tencent. ByteDance had acquired Moonton in 2021 for around $4 billion (approximately Rp 67 trillion). The sale of Moonton’s business marks a new step for the company in redirecting resources to the AI sector, which is considered more strategic and potentially profitable in the future.