With the mobile MOBA hit Honor of Kings receiving a global version, publishers Tencent and Level Infinite announced $15 million to build an esports ecosystem for the game.
The news was shared by Jan M. Jahnke, Lead for Global Esports Products at Level Infinite via a video on Twitter, announcing the game’s esports scene will be receiving significant changes throughout 2024.
Tencent is currently aiming to expand Honor of King’s worldwide presence with the game seeing its global release throughout this year, starting with North Africa, Eastern Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East.
Additionally, the Honor of Kings Invitational Series esports tournaments have been announced, with two seasons this year, each with its own LAN finals.
The Season 1 finals will be taking place in Istanbul, Turkey, and along with the Invitational Series, Tencent is also planning to create more localized leagues in each region that Honor of Kings launches, similar to its recently established Pro League in Brazil.
Between the two seasons of the Invitational Series, teams will also participate in the Midseason Invitational tournament with a prize pool of $1 million.
Lastly, the Invitational Championship is set to take place at the end of the year, however, no details have been shared yet.
Joe Zoghbi, CEO of Emirati esports organization Divine Vendetta, also took to his Twitter to share the news and noted that this will “support both local and global tournaments, with a focus on nurturing talented players and teams.”
Aside from esports, Divine Vendetta is also publishing games in the Middle East and North Africa with the most recent title being its partnership with Level Infinite and Tencent to publish Honor of Kings.
Honor of Kings
Honor of Kings has been a major success in its home country of China, often topping the top-grossing chart according to mobile app analyst AppMagic.
Outside of China, players might be more familiar with the name Arena of Valor, which is actually Honor of Kings’ international adaptation.
However, it is still unclear if Arena of Valor will continue to co-exist with the global launch of Honor of Kings, especially for its tournaments.