Honor of Kings
Officially Honor of Kings (王者荣耀, Wángzhě Róngyào)
CHINESE 5v5 MOBILE MOBA (2015) by TIMI STUDIO GROUP (TENCENT) — the MOST PLAYED VIDEO GAME IN THE WORLD by user count (100+ million daily active users mostly in China). Heroes based on CHINESE HISTORICAL + MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES. Native Chinese version + international version 'ARENA OF VALOR' or 'AoV'. Massive Chinese esports scene — HONOR OF KINGS CHAMPIONSHIP (KPL, world's richest esports league by revenue). NATIVE global launch in 2024 to compete beyond just China + Southeast Asia.
Quick facts
Category
Esports
Type
Team sport
Players
10–10
Duration
~20 min
Where played
indoor
Country of origin
🇨🇳 China
Estimated origin
Chinese launch 2015; Arena of Valor international launch 2016; native Honor of Kings global 2024
Olympic
No
Popularity
regional
How it works
Objective
Destroy opposing team's CRYSTAL (nexus) at end of middle lane.
Rules
Basic rules
3-LANE 5v5 map: top, middle, bottom lanes + jungle in-between
Signature MOBA map.
100+ HEROES based on Chinese history + mythology (Hua Mulan, Zhao Yun, Cao Cao, Nezha, Sun Wukong)
Signature Chinese cultural roster.
MINIONS spawn from base, push lanes; kill for XP + gold
Standard MOBA farming.
TURRETS + INHIBITORS + CRYSTAL: destroy in order to win
Signature building-destruction progression.
MOBILE-FIRST design: shorter matches, faster gameplay, touch-optimized abilities
Signature mobile design.
ARENA OF VALOR is international version with mostly-different characters (skip Chinese cultural characters)
Signature global variant.
Scoring
First team to destroy enemy Crystal wins.
Win condition · Destroy enemy Crystal.
Equipment
iOS OR Android mobile (native mobile-first)
Signature mobile-first design
Touch controls (2 virtual joysticks + ability buttons)
Touch controls
Terminology
- Crystal
- Nexus / main objective — destroy to win.
- Jungle
- Between-lanes area with neutral monsters providing gold/XP.
- Ultimate
- Signature ability with long cooldown.
- KPL
- King Pro League — top Chinese pro league.
- TiMi Studio Group
- Tencent's Shenzhen-based mobile studio.
- Arena of Valor
- International version with reduced Chinese cultural characters.
Major competitions
King Pro League (KPL)
annual season · China (top esports revenue) · since 2016
Honor of Kings World Champion Cup
annual · Global · since 2017
Where it is played
Governing bodies
Tencent Games (developer + publisher + esports organizer)
Founded 1998 · Shenzhen, China
Famous names & records
Famous athletes
- AG Superplay (KPL champions)
- eStar Pro (Chinese championship team)
- TS Xingtu (KPL winners)
- 770 (KPL star player)
- Various KPL All-Stars
Sources & provenance
- Honor of Kings official— Tencent
- Wikipedia — Honor of Kings— Wikipedia