Tencent’s mobile battle arena title Honor of Kings has hit 100 million daily active users.
As detailed by Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad, via Twitter (below), the milestone marks a world record. Furthermore, it is year-to-date; there is still time for the number to rise before the end of the year.
The milestone has been hit just as the game was gearing up to celebrate its fifth anniversary.
Moreover, as pointed out by Ahmad, Honor of Kings is only available in China, meaning it has broken an impressive milestone through one country alone. However, the Chinese mobile games market is the biggest worldwide.
“Honor of Kings is only available in China, yet it is one of the most successful mobile games in the world. China is the largest mobile games market in the world with over 600m players, and HoK has become embedded in the mobile gaming culture there, reaching new players too,” said Ahmad.
《Honor of Kings》 is the highest grossing mobile game this year. But many in the West have never heard of it before.
The title is celebrating its 5th anniversary and has announced it has achieved a world record of 100m average DAU, year to date.
My thread below explains more: pic.twitter.com/3bc0KsewHZ
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) November 1, 2020
Keys to success
Ahmad explained that there are multiple reasons for the MOBA’s success. Namely, it’s developer – TiMi Studios – has effectively used live ops and been innovative. Furthermore, other the years, the developer has added new tech to Honor of Kings.
Moreover, the IP has been expanded over time, as has its cultural reach through the use of “skins inspired by traditional art.”
Finally, the game has embraced esports and has proven to be successful in doing so.
“Honor of Kings succeeded with mobile esports before anyone else, introducing mobile esports at the professional level, college level and amateur levels,” said Ahmad.
“Honor of Kings esports generated 44 billion views in 2019, with 24 billion of those from official professional tournaments.”
The battle arena game reigned supreme in September as the top-earning mobile title.
