Shanghai Moonton Technology Co. Ltd. (Chinese: 上海沐瞳科技有限公司; pinyin: Shànghǎi Mùtóng Kējì Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī), commonly known as Moonton, is a Chinese video game company dedicated to gaming development, publication, and esports. The company operates offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Latin America, Hong Kong, and mainland China, among other locations.
In October 2021, ByteDance acquired Moonton, which remained operating independently. In 2024, Yunfan Zhang became the CEO of Moonton.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (often abbreviated MLBB) is a mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed by Moonton. As of 2025, it has been reported to have over 1.5 billion registered users and around 110 million monthly active players. The game has ranked among the top ten most-played mobile games in more than 80 countries. It is distributed globally and maintains an international esports presence with professional leagues and tournaments across multiple regions.
In 2026, MLBB Esports will transition to a five-region structure—Southeast Asia (SEA); Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA); Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); East Asia (EA); and the Americas (AMER). This framework unifies the global MLBB Esports ecosystem while empowering each region through tailored infrastructure and talent development pathways.
The M7 World Championship, held January 3-25, 2026 in Jakarta, Indonesia, became the most-watched mobile esports tournament in history. According to Esports Charts, the Grand Finals reached over 5.68 million peak concurrent viewers—a new record for mobile esports. June 24, the MLBB Asian Games Qualifiers became the most-watched esports tournament in Asian Games history by generating 9.1 million hours watched, On July 18, the Grand Finals of MWI at EWC 26 reached over 565k peak concurrent users, setting a new record for EWC women's esports. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Mid-Season Cup (MSC) also set a viewership record at the 2026 Esports World Cup (EWC), reaching 2.88 million peak concurrent viewers (PCV)—the highest figure of any tournament at EWC 2026.
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History
Moonton was launched in Shanghai, China in July 2014. The company's first commercial release came in April 2015 with Magic Rush: Heroes, a role-playing game that launched worldwide excluding the domestic Chinese market. Following the completion of Magic Rush: Heroes, Moonton began development for a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game. Moonton launched Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) in November 2016, released worldwide excluding mainland China. It became popular in Southeast Asia, notably in Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia, where it was the most-downloaded free mobile game app among iPhone users in 2017. The game is distributed by Skystone in the United States.
In 2017, Moonton began building its esports ecosystem with its first MLBB offline esports tournament in Indonesia in May, followed by the inaugural MSC (MLBB Southeast Asia Cup) in September. In November 2017, the company launched the Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, expanding to the Philippines in March 2018 and Myanmar in February 2019.
The company established regional offices, opening its Singapore branch in May 2018 and Indonesian branch in October 2018. By April 2018, MLBB had exceeded 200 million total registered accounts, growing to over 1 billion cumulative downloads by October 2020, with peak monthly active users exceeding 100 million.
In August 2019, Moonton launched Mobile Legends: Adventure worldwide, excluding Japan, Korea, and mainland China.
In November 2019, the first Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Global Championship (M1) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with 16 teams participating from 14 countries.
In December 2019, MLBB officially became a medal sport at the 30th Southeast Asian Games, marking its recognition as a legitimate competitive sport in the region.
On March 22, 2021, ByteDance agreed to acquire gaming studio Moonton at a valuation of around $4 billion.
MPL expanded internationally to Brazil and Cambodia in July 2021. By August 2021, MLBB's total registered accounts exceeded 1 billion. The company diversified its content offerings, launching Legends of Dawn - The Sacred Stone, the first MLBB animation series in August 2021, which accumulated 360 million views in its first run across multiple platforms globally.