TikTok may sell its game assets to Tencent
TikTok is looking for someone to acquire ByteDance and its other gaming assets, according to a report by Reuters. Back in November 2023, ByteDance already announced plans to close Marvel Snap publisher Nuverse, cancel unreleased projects, and divest from ongoing titles in TikTok’s effort to wind down its core gaming business. Aside from Marvel Snap, Nuverse has found relatively little success after being founded as the core gaming label for ByteDance in 2019.
“We regularly review our businesses and make adjustments to center on long-term strategic growth areas. Following a recent review, we've made the difficult decision to restructure our gaming business,” a spokesperson for ByteDance said last year.
Marvel Snap is among the properties up for grabs as TikTok gives up its core gaming efforts.
Marvel, Nuverse
Talks with several parties are underway, chief among them being Chinese gaming giant Tencent, but there has not been any form of deal yet. Tencent recently lost millions of dollars in value after Chinese authorities proposed new gaming restrictions, though the government has loosened its stance on these in the meantime, firing the responsible official.
ByteDance and Tencent have traditionally not been on good terms due to competing with each other on the cutthroat Chinese market, but it looks like Tencent may be happy to hold the door for TikTok’s games division on the way out.
Another big gaming asset under ByteDance on the lookout for a buyer is the developer of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Moonton, which it acquired in 2021 for around $4 billion USD.
TikTok retreating from core gaming and no longer considering it a “long-term strategic growth area” has, naturally, made some waves late last year after an enormously successful year for games and an equally terrible one for those who make them.
