Moonton

Moonton, formerly YoungJoy Technology Pte. Ltd., then Shanghai Moonton Technology Co. Ltd. (Chinese: 上海沐瞳科技有限公司; pinyin: Shànghǎi mù tóng kējì yǒuxiàn gōngsī) is a Chinese video game developer and publisher based in Shanghai, China. Founded in April 2014, the company is best known for its mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Chinese: 无尽对决; pinyin: Wújìn duìjué), released in July 2016.

Moonton
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FoundedApril 2014
FoundersJustin Yuan
Headquarters
Minhang District, Shanghai[1]
,
China
Key people
  • Justin Yuan (CEO)
  • Watson Xu Zhenhua (CEO)
Number of employees
300+[2] (2019)
Websitehttp://www.moonton.com/

List of products
Year Title Genre(s) Platform(s)
2015 Magic Rush: Heroes Tower defense Android, iOS
2016 Mobile Legends: 5v5 MOBA Multiplayer online battle arena
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
2019 Mobile Legends: Adventure Side-scrolling role-playing
2020 Mobile Legends: Pocket N/A (Mobile Simulator App)
Sweet Crossing: Snake.io Snake

Notes

While Mobile Legends: Bang Bang technically is only a rename with minor editing from Mobile Legends: 5v5 MOBA, it was considered a separated product in the 44-page lawsuit filed by Riot Games against Moonton.[3]

History

Moonton was established in April 2014 within the Minhang District of Shanghai, China.[4] Its two co-founders are Justin Yuan and Watson Xu Zhenhua, who also became partner chief executive officers (CEOs) of the company.[5][6][7]

On April 6, 2015, the company released its first video game, the tower defense (TD) game titled Magic Rush: Heroes. After Moonton finished developing its first game called Magic Rush: Heroes, released in 2015, they proceeded with developing the company's next project, a mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game later titled Mobile Legends.[8]

Mobile Legends was released by Moonton with the subtitle "5v5 MOBA" on 14 July 2016 starting its beta launch in Brazil and was globally released worldwide by November 2016 (excluding mainland China).[9] The game became highly popular in Southeast Asia, notably in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, where it was the most-downloaded free mobile game app among iPhone users in 2017.[10][11] The game is distributed by Elex Tech in the United States.[12]

After the game's initial release, Riot Games suspected that the game was imitating the intellectual property of League of Legends, and contacted Google to remove the game from Google Play and App Store. Moonton removed the game before Google could take it down, and eventually relaunching it with the altered name Mobile Legends: Bang Bang on 9 November 2016.[13][14]

In July 2017, Riot Games filed a lawsuit against Moonton because of copyright infringement, citing similarities between Magic Rush and Mobile Legends against League of Legends.[15] The case was initially dismissed in Central District Court of California in United States on account of forum non convenience.

Later, Tencent, the parent of Riot Games, filed a new, separate lawsuit directly targeting one of Moonton's CEO, Watson Xu Zhenhua (as he had previously worked in Tencent as one of Tencent's senior employee) in Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People’s Court, for violating a law regarding Non-Compete Agreements,[16] which ruled in Tencent's favor in July 2018, awarded Tencent a settlement of $2.9 million (RMB19.4 million).[17]

References
  1. "About MOONTON". MOONTON. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  2. ABS-CBN Sports (11 November 2019). "Philippine teams to compete in the first ever Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship 2019". ABS-CBN News. ABS-CBN Corporation. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  3. Massaad, Jay (2017-07-11). "Riot Games targets supposed League of Legends knockoffs in lawsuit". Esports Insider. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  4. "About Us". MOONTON. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  5. Sheany (9 November 2018). "Game Developers Should Focus on Each Country's Unique Culture: Moonton Chief Executive". Jakarta Globe. Nusa Dua. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  6. Lanier, Liz (19 July 2018). "Tencent Wins Lawsuit Over 'League of Legends' Copycat". Variety. Variety Media, LLC. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  7. Fakry Naras Wahidi (20 July 2018). "Fakta Kasus Tencent dan CEO Moonton". Radarempoa.com (in Indonesian). ONE. Retrieved 10 January 2020. Setelah tanya rekan yang kebetulan mantan karyawan Moonton, ternyata perusahaan game itu punya dua CEO, yaitu Xu Zhenhua (Watson) dan Justin Yuan.
  8. 白鲸出海 (26 November 2018). "沐瞳科技创始人袁菁解读《无尽对决》：从一天推广费亏30万美金到成为印尼国民手游". 卖家之家 (in Chinese). mjzj.com. Retrieved 30 May 2020. 2015 年，沐瞳科技研发出了他们的第一款游戏，叫做《Magic Rush：Heroes》（魔法英雄），Google Play 和 Apple store 都在全球进行了推荐，巅峰时期的收入达到了一个月 900 多万美金。“这算是成功了。”袁菁说道。。。。在《Magic Rush：Heroes》这款游戏上，沐瞳科技积累了很多经验。首先，他们每一周都给用户提供新的体验、新的内容。其次，他们想各种办法去适应，迎合当地市场的文化、宗教甚至是移动网络。比如，在用户打赢游戏后，通常会出现“恭喜你赢了！”这几个字。。。
  9. Mobile Legends, independently developed and Globally released in November 2016. https://www.moonton.com/#/company
  10. Ismail, Izwan (7 December 2017). "Here is Apple's list of top apps in Southeast Asia for 2017". New Straits Times. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  11. Harris, Iain (20 July 2018). "Moonton's popular MOBA Mobile Legends plunders $200m in global revenues". Pocket Gamer.biz. Steel Media Ltd. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  12. Batchelor, James (12 July 2017). "Riot Games suing Chinese developer behind League of Legends clone". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  13. "Riot Games sues developers of Mobile Legends". Rappler. July 11, 2017.
  14. "Riot Games files lawsuit against League of Legends knocked-off". GGWP. 11 July 2017.
  15. "Riot sues Mobile Legends's developers". 11 July 2017.
  16. Editor, Vantage Asia (2018-12-21). "Tencent case and risks in non-compete commitments". Vantage Asia. Retrieved 2020-08-21.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  17. Mickunas, Aaron (18 July 2018). "Riot Games parent Tencent wins $2.9 million in lawsuit against Moonton CEO". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
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