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    Moonton fires back at Riot Games owner Tencent, wins P1.8 million defamation case

    Moonton and Tencent have had their fair share of legal tussles
    Oct 13, 2022
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    MOONTON Games, developer of Mobile Legends, and Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent have had their fair share of legal tussles over the past few years.

    Tencent subsidiary Riot Games sued Mobile Legends: Bang Bang for plagiarizing League of Legends. After that, Tencent took Moonton Games and and Mutong Technology founder Xu Zhenhua to court again on the grounds that Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (or Endless Showdown, as the game is known in China) plagiarized and infringed Tencent game Honor of Kings.

    In 2018, Xu Zhenhua, the founder of Mutong Technology, was sentenced to compensate Tencent 19.4 million yuan (or around P159 million) for violating a non-compete agreement.

    The following year, however, Moonton Games and Mutong Technology sued Tencent for fabricating and spread false information that, according to a statement from Moonton, "was inconsistent with the facts and hindered the cooperation between the plaintiff and relevant partners. This behavior caused serious damage to Mutong's business reputation and should bear legal responsibility."

    According to the China Judgment Documents Network, the case has recently been finalized, with the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court finding that Tencent committed commercial slander.

    The conglomerate was ordered to compensate Moonton for economic losses and reasonable expenses, to the tune of 220,000 yuan (around P1.8 million), and to clarify the commercial slander involved in the case in writing.

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      How Moonton won commercial slander case against Tencent

      The case involved Mobile Legends, with Moonton accusing Tencent of using a local lawyer to "fabricate and spread misleading information" to an Indonesian gaming publication and Moonton partner Revival TV. This information, said the Shanghai-based developer, was intended to destroy their business reputation and competitive advantage, and constituted commercial slander.

      The Shanghai Pudong District People's Court ruled in favor of Moonton in October 2020 in a first-instance judgment after a trial. Tencent, however, appealed to the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court.

      However, this court rejected Tencent's appeal and made a final judgment that upheld the original verdict.

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      Moonton was established in 2014 and has achieved remarkable results in the Southeast Asian game market. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang/Endless Showdown launched in June 2016, and surpassed Tencent's Honor of Kings in the Southeast Asian MOBA market, becoming the dominant player in many countries and regions. In March 2021, MOONTON Games was acquired by ByteDance’s game arm Nuverse.

      As of June 2022 the monthly active users of MLBB exceeded 100 million.

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