ByteDance’s Moonton acquisition, Fortnite’s Google Play comeback and a $2bn milestone for Farm Heroes Saga | Week in Views

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The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can’t let go of…

So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over we’ve created a weekly digest where the members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming in the past week.

ByteDance to sell Moonton to Savvy Games Group in $6bn deal

Five years ago, ByteDance acquired Mobile Legends: Bang Bang developer Moonton for around $4 billion as part of its big push into games.

It wasn’t long before the TikTok owner pulled back from those ambitions, leaving Moonton in limbo and somewhat of a will they, won’t they relationship for a few years.

Now Bloomberg and Reuters are reporting a deal is all but confirmed, valuing the developer at $6bn. That’s more than Savvy purchased Scopely for, which cost $4.9bn, off the back of one of mobile’s biggest ever hits: Monopoly Go.

Mobile Legends has generated billions of dollars, so the MOBA is no small game. But why is this Chinese developer worth more than Scopely?

Other than being a huge hit, along with some other Moonton titles that have performed well but on a relatively smaller scale, Mobile Legends is also part of the Esports World Cup. It’s run by the Esports World Cup Foundation, led by the Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Part of the country’s aim is to establish itself as an esports centre, per the Saudi Vision 2030.

The deal also gives Savvy’s a footprint in the highly lucrative China market, which could perhaps support its other acquisitions in future and provide a local partner for operations.

We asked Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward during GDC about the deal, but he did not comment on the matter.

It’s a surprise to see the deal valued at such a high price, considering the background of the deal. But the move may just fit in with Savvy and Saudi Arabia’s overall ambitions to become a major global games industry and esports player.

Fortnite is back on the Google Play Store today

Fortnite is back on the Google Play Store. This has been a long time coming, since the game was removed from the store back in 2020 after Epic introduced its own payment system that went around Google’s rules.

That act triggered years of back-and-forth between the pair. Although the title was still available on Android through alternative app stores, this remains a significant moment for Epic Games, not only because the game has returned to the store but also because it feels like a win at the end of a long battle. 

The game was put back on the store yesterday, which also coincided with another big change, which is the price of V-Bucks going up. A move that, of course, hasn’t been well received by many fans despite Epic’s attempts to lessen the blow with certain incentives, such as cashback for using its own payment options and decreasing the cost of certain in-game passes. 

So while the price hike may not be well received by fans, Epic securing a return for Fortnite on the App Store last year and on Google Play this must feel like a major win after years of legal battles. 

And let’s not forget that the proposed platform changes coming to Google Play are also a step toward creating a fairer market for other developers too.

King’s Farm Heroes Saga officially hits $2 billion

I visited King’s London office this week, where I had the chance to speak with team members from across the company’s puzzle portfolio. Among the revelations, VP of Farm Heroes Saga shared that this match-3 mobile game has now surpassed $2 billion in lifetime player spending.

It’s a mighty number for any game, and an example of King’s success outside of the Candy Crush brand. So, naturally I asked Burrows plenty of questions about keeping this title alive over more than a decade and the types of evolutions that keep players coming back for more.

Keep an eye out for more insights to follow soon – from marketing Candy Crush, to King’s trajectory, to exactly what its London studio is all about. President Todd Green had plenty to share, too.