KUALA LUMPUR — In an earnest bid to broaden both its global and regional presence, rising mobile game Honor of Kings has invested a total of $15 million for its 2024 roadmap that provides a spotlight from the grassroots all the way up to the amateur and professional levels.
Honor of Kings has just wrapped up the HOK Invitationals Season 2 on Sunday night with Malaysia’s LGD Gaming emerging from the ashes to stun compatriot Team Secret and win the title in a reverse sweep.
Following the Invitationals, LGD Gaming, alongside 11 other teams, will then see action in the ongoing Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where the total prize pool is set at $3 million, with the champion squad bagging $1 million.
On the regional scale, Honor of Kings will stage 14 Open Series Split 2 qualifiers in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and wildcard), Americas (Brazil, Latin America, and North America), Pacific, and EMEA from July to September, which will serve as a pathway to the Invitational Championship penciled to take place in October.
To cap off the year, Honor of Kings will stage the SEA Championship where the top squads in the region will duke it out in December. All these will happen within just months after HOK announced its global launch last June 20 following years of exclusive availability in China.
“It’s true that we are moving much faster than usual so even in year one of global launch, we [are already doing] the global event and we are doing some pro championship and grassroots,” James Yang, Leven Infinite’s senior director of global esports center, said during a press conference here.
“There are some more regions but so far, in the global esports center, when we make an esports strategy, we always consider the timing and region because in global esports, their conditions and situations are different.”
Honor of Kings’ global launch has been welcomed by many, especially those in the local community who are looking for more opportunities in the esports ecosystem.
“For me, it’s a big thing kasi it expands the opportunities of our athletes. So from someone who didn’t have this kind of opportunity before because I started competing in DOTA 1,” Jack Tamboboy, senior team manager for Blacklist International, shared to select members of the media on the sidelines of the Invitationals.
“With the position that we have in the Philippines na mataas ‘yung rate natin for mobile consumption, it’s a lot of things and being a former aspiring competitor myself, having a different avenue of competition is always a good thing.”
Blacklist has already formed its Honor of Kings squad by convening its players from its defunct Wild Rift team. Blacklist saw action in the Philippine qualifiers for the Invitationals, but lost to eventual champion BOOM Esports during the grand finals.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
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