Savvy's Moonton purchase, reported above US$6 billion, has cleared China's antitrust review, and closing now depends on remaining conditions in the agreement, which the parties have not itemized.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) cleared the sale of ByteDance’s Moonton game studio to Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group without conditions, according to the agency’s weekly list of unconditional merger approvals. The list was posted on November 6 and records the review as concluded on October 29. TechNode reported the approval on November 9 and cited Skadden, ByteDance’s legal adviser, for a reported price above US$6 billion.
Moonton develops Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, a multiplayer mobile game popular in Southeast Asia. The clearance removes one regulatory step but does not close the deal. ITHome noted on November 6 that completion still depends on other conditions in the agreement. Neither ByteDance nor Savvy had commented on the clearance in the reports reviewed.
SAMR attached no remedies to the sale, which moves a high-value ByteDance gaming asset to a buyer owned by a Gulf sovereign fund.
The SAMR notice names the buyer and the target
The SAMR list gives the case as the acquisition of equity in 沐瞳控股有限公司 (Moonton Holdings Limited) and one other company by 沙特电子游戏控股公司, which ITHome and TechNode identify as Savvy. The parties named are the buyer, Moonton Holdings and 上海沐瞳科技有限公司 (Shanghai Moonton Technology). It was one of seven unconditional approvals on that week’s list. The others included Mitsubishi Materials’ purchase of a stake in Pan Pacific Copper. The list page carries no case number.
Skadden’s announcement, dated March 30, says the firm advised ByteDance Ltd. on the sale of Moonton Holdings Limited and describes the price as reported to be above US$6 billion. It says closing is subject to customary conditions, including certain regulatory approvals, without listing them. The sources opened do not say whether other approvals remain after the Chinese one.
Savvy and ByteDance agreed the terms in March
Reuters first reported on February 13, citing anonymous sources, that ByteDance was in advanced talks and that the deal was valued at US$6 billion to US$7 billion. ByteDance, Moonton and Savvy did not respond to its requests for comment then. GamesBeat reported on March 20 that Savvy confirmed it had signed an agreement to acquire Moonton for more than US$6 billion, and that Savvy CEO Brian Ward said, "Once completed, it will further strengthen our leadership in mobile games."
ByteDance bought Moonton in 2021 through its gaming unit Nuverse at a valuation of about US$4 billion, according to Reuters. Moonton was founded in 2014 and has more than 2,000 employees. Reuters, citing Moonton’s website, reports more than 1.5 billion installs of Mobile Legends and more than 110 million monthly players. After closing, Moonton becomes a wholly owned Savvy subsidiary that stays in Shanghai, keeps its management team and keeps Zhang Yunfan as CEO, per ITHome.
Mobile Legends launched globally in 2016 and reached mainland China in January 2025, according to the Chinese edition of TechNode. Reuters says Savvy is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. GamesBeat lists ESL and Scopely among its acquisitions, and Reuters says Scopely cost US$4.9 billion in 2023.
The AI link rests on one report, and the closing date is open
The sources connect the sale to China’s AI economy in only one place. Jiemian, in an exclusive on the deal, cited a person close to ByteDance who said the company’s profits began falling in the fourth quarter of 2025 because of heavy AI spending and rising chip prices, and that the sale is part of a tighter focus on AI. Jiemian also reported that talks began in the second half of 2025 and that key terms were settled in early 2026, and that ByteDance gaming head Zhang Yunfan told staff in an internal letter that they would receive incentives tied to past performance plus new plans linked to future results. ByteDance has not confirmed that account in any page opened. Reuters described the sale as a major retreat from online games and noted that ByteDance restructured its gaming business in 2023.
What remains open is timing. GamesBeat said in March that closing was expected in the coming months, and the SAMR clearance is the first public regulatory milestone in the sources. A closing announcement from Savvy or ByteDance, or a statement naming any further approvals, would settle when Moonton changes hands.