ByteDance-backed Cell Legends: Bang Bang first sport to hitch Esports World Cup – South China Morning Put up

Fashionable multiplayer on-line battle enviornment sport Cell Legends: Bang Bang, developed by ByteDance-owned studio Moonton, would be the first aggressive title within the upcoming Esports World Cup.
Moonton confirmed its participation within the world occasion even supposing mother or father ByteDance, the proprietor of TikTok and its Chinese language model Douyin, determined to reduce its online game enterprise late final yr. The corporate has been in talks to promote a number of gaming operations, together with Moonton.
Esports groups taking part in Cell Legends: Bang Bang, together with these from China, will battle it out for a mixed prize pool of US$3.5 million through the match, which is about to kick off in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, in the summertime, in accordance with a Tuesday assertion on Moonton’s official web site.
The organiser, the non-profit Esports World Cup Basis, has not disclosed the precise date of the occasion, nevertheless it mentioned it is going to seemingly happen “through the months of July and August”.
Either side “signed a multi-year cooperation settlement”, mentioned the Shanghai-based sport developer. The match, inaugurated this yr, can be a recurring annual occasion, the organiser mentioned.
Moonton chief government Justin Yuan mentioned the partnership “strengthens its ties with key markets corresponding to Europe, the Americas and the Center East”.
Since its launch in 2016, Cell Legends: Bang Bang has amassed 110 million month-to-month energetic customers worldwide. In 2021, ByteDance acquired Moonton in a deal valuing the agency at US$4 billion, a transfer meant to provide ByteDance a foothold within the abroad gaming market, particularly Southeast Asia.
Nevertheless, a slowing financial system and fierce competitors have pressured ByteDance to shift its focus. The corporate was reportedly in talks to promote Moonton, Reuters reported in November. It was additionally mulling divesting different operations, together with rights to at the least two titles – the anime-style role-playing sport Crystal of Atlan and sci-fi survival sport Earth: Revival, each developed by ByteDance’s Nuverse studio, the Put up reported in November.
ByteDance confirmed earlier this month that it was in contact with a number of potential patrons for its online game operations, together with Tencent Holdings, the world’s largest gaming firm by income.
Regardless of the seemingly possession change, Moonton’s Yuan advised staff that the corporate would “keep its unbiased operations” and “preserve creating good video games,” in accordance with Chinese language newspaper Southern Metropolis Day by day.

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