Honor of Kings (simplified Chinese: 王者荣耀; traditional Chinese: 王者榮耀; pinyin: Wángzhě Róngyào, unofficially translated as "King's Glory", or alternatively transliterated as Wangzhe Rongyao) is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by Tencent Games for iOS and Android.

In October 2016, an international adaptation, Arena of Valor, was released, utilizing the same game engine but altering the user interfaces and heroes to accommodate the Western market.

As of November 2020, Honor of Kings had over 3 million daily active players, making it one of the most popular games in the world.

[9][10][11][12][13][14] In June 2022, Level Infinite, the publisher of Arena of Valor, announced that Honor of Kings would be released globally by the end of 2022.

[15] In May 2024, the worldwide launch was announced for 20 June 2024, following pre-releases in Brazil and Turkey as well as countries in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

[16][17] Honor of Kings is a quick-match (15–20 minutes) mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game.

The red buff is used to decrease the moving speed of the enemies, and it also deals a few 'real damage' (i.e., it cannot be blocked by shield and defense points), which is useful for warriors and marksmen.

Top Match This mode is full of experts and highly technical players; participation requires a rank above Super King star one.

Players can spend diamonds to reroll a new random hero, putting the unchosen one into a selection pool from which their teammates can choose.

Each game has a time limit of ten minutes; the first team to reach thirty kills wins immediately.

[28] Some heroes originated from the mythical story of China (such as Pan Gu), while others are famous people from Chinese history (such as Guan Yu).

[29]: 237 In Arena of Valor, most Chinese characters are replaced by American and Japanese heroes, including Batman, The Flash, and Jinnar.

[29]: 242 In 2019, Timi L1 Studio collaborated with Japanese gaming company SNK to feature Mai Shiranui from the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series and Charlotte, Ukyo Tachibana, Nakoruru, and Haohmaru from the Samurai Shodown series as guest characters in Honor of Kings.

[30] They would collaborate once again in the game Metal Slug: Awakening, having Alessio, Sun Shangxiang and Marco Polo as the current HoK guest characters, along with Arena of Valor's Violet.

[35] Lightspeed & Quantum's We MOBA and TiMi's League of Kings (rough translation from 王者联盟; Wángzhě Liánméng) were launched on the same day, on 18 August 2015.

[38] Tencent responded that they would change its own game enough to sell as a standalone product with no relation to League of Legends.

The international release of Honor of Kings was cancelled; instead, the game was rebranded and featured different content for markets outside mainland China.

[39] Arena of Valor was reported to have caused a gradually straining business relationship between Riot Games and Tencent.

Tensions increased when Tencent used notable League of Legends players to promote Arena of Valor and its esports tournaments.

Tencent then temporarily pulled marketing plans for Arena of Valor in Europe and North America in 2019, clearing room for Riot Games' announcement a few months later.

In response to the national day of mourning designated by China on 4 April 2020, for those who had given up their lives or had passed away from the COVID-19 pandemic, all of Tencent's games announced a 24-hour suspension of service, which included Honor of Kings.

Multiple score composers collaborated on the album, including Howard Shore, Thomas Parisch, and Marcin Przybylowicz.

The score's executive producers are Sam Yang and Cheney Wu, with coordination by Channel Chen, production by Vivita Zheng and Thomas Parisch, and Hongfei Zhao serving as music director.

[59][60] On the 9th of August 2024, the Honor of Kings (Original Game Soundtrack Collection 2024) released on streaming platforms in celebration of the global launch, featuring music from composers Laurent Courbier,[61] Dmitrii Miachin,[62] Ting Si Hao,[63] and Jing Zhang.

[29]: 238  In Hangzhou, a middle school teacher wrote a widely-disseminated article calling for the game to be banned, attributing to it negative effects on teenagers' mental health.

[29]: 238  Shortly thereafter, a thirteen year-old in Hangzhou jumped off a building because his father prevented him from playing Honor of Kings and the Qianjiang Evening News called for a ban on the game.

[29]: 238  Southern Metropolis Daily reported that Honor of Kings had not implemented the national system that aimed to protect adolescents from video game addiction.

It is believed that rising concerns over excessive gaming habits in children led Tencent to self-impose these restrictions.

[29]: 239 On 31 October 2021, Honor of Kings updated its juvenile addiction prevention system following the requirement from National Press and Publication Administration.

[67] In 2022, For All Time, a mobile game launched by NetEase, accused Honor of Kings of plagiarizing artwork, while in 2024, Onmyoji, also a mobile game launched by NetEase, posted a letter from its law firm warning Honor of Kings for the new skins of the characters Li Bai and Dasiming comprised copyright infringement and unfair competition.