This season, Arena of Valor was able to take the lead in the race again and beat the legendary Honor of Kings in terms of the number of spectators at the international championship. For mobile esports, this is a strong and charming session: the two MOBA authorities pull the audience almost equally, but this time the scope of AOV turned out to be wider.
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Comparison of peak views at Arena of Valor and Honor of Kings tournaments according to Esports Charts
According to the information, the esports charts data platform, the Honor of Kings international tournament this year gathered about 696,000 spectators, while the Arena of Valor confidently jumped over the 742,000 mark.
AOV is the same Strike of Kings, which was released in 2016 as the international version of Honor of Kings. The Chinese release of HoK happened a year earlier, but the game entered the world stage quite recently.
Honor of Kings global debut in 2024: Impact on international audience and esports ecosystem
Honor of Kings was released almost ten years after its release. The game reached the rest only on June 20, 2024. With all the strategy of global expansion and the development of its own esports ecosystem, the Arena of Valor finish season in 2025 held the audience’s attention noticeably better.
Factors driving the popularity of Arena of Valor: analysis of Esports Charts data on viewership and watch time
A shot from the Arena of Valor trailer, where the hero is hacked in a stubborn battle
Esports charts reports that the peak viewing time for the Arena of Valor International Championship 2025 occurred on the final day of the playoffs. In addition, viewers accumulated 21.6 million hours of watch time, and the average audience remained at around 184 thousand people for 117+ hours of airtime.
Rating of the International Championship in the history of the Arena of Valor by peak viewers
Currently, this international championship ranks third among the most popular AOV tournaments of 2025, above only the winter and summer Arena of Glory.
If we take the history in fact, then the event ranks seventh in terms of interest. For example, about 879.5 thousand people followed the Championship 2021, and about 974.6 thousand followed the Premier League 2023.
Closing the Star League in Indonesia: Challenges for the Arena of Valor in 2025
Even with this growing interest, the season turned out to be nervous: the Indonesian Star League closed after the spring split on May 11. For the first time, many local teams did not qualify for the world Championship, and yet the AOV audience remained at a steady pace.
The community took the pause painfully, but the gameplay arena did not fall in graphical progression.
Developing the Honor of Kings audience: a new international system and hours watched in 2025
The 2025 HoK International Championship attracted an average of 29.1 thousand viewers over 110+ hours of broadcast, which gave a total of 3.2 million hours of views.
At the same time, the tournament became the most attended Honor of Kings event in 2025, overtaking the World Cup and Invitational Season 3. Moreover, it charmed everyone with the release of a HoK tournament outside China in its history, improving the achievement of 2024 – when the peak was about 480 thousand spectators at the mid-season invitation.
Why are not there any Chinese teams, and what is this global plan?
In 2025, teams from China were not included in the table at the international championship. In 2024, Honor of Kings created a new format in esports on its own initiative: a series of invitation tournaments, a world championship, and special grand finals for Chinese teams.
This approach to development has taken it to a global level, and Level Infinite seems to be busy with it. The HoK ecosystem has become noticeably denser, and the mobile esports segment has received another stable tournament cycle.
Predictions for AIC 2026 and the future of Arena of Valor
If we look at the dynamics of recent years, AIC 2026 could be a turning point for the entire franchise. The reason for this is several factors with a clear vision of the plan.
First: the prize pool. According to historical data, it grew from $500,000 in 2017 to $2 million in 2022. If Tencent Games continues to invest in mobile esports, we intend to assume that the AIC 2026 may exceed the mark of $ 3-4 million. This will attract stronger teams and improve the gameplay quality.
Second: new regions. In 2022, South Asia and Turkey were added – both areas showed decent interest. In detail, South Asia qualifier collected $100,000 in prize money for the regional selection alone. Moreover, there is potential for expansion into Latin America and Africa, where the mobile MOBA scene is actively growing, and the infrastructure is still lagging behind.
A curious point: even if Indonesia closed the Star League in 2025, it freed up resources for other markets. Level Infinite is likely to redirect its focus to regions with less intense competition the Middle East and North Africa look like logical candidates for strengthening
Third: global expansion against regional stability. Arena of Valor is currently balancing between maintaining a base in Southeast Asia and capturing new territories. AIC 2026, a plausible scenario, may become a hybrid some stages take place in established regions (Vietnam, Thailand), some in new locations to attract an audience.
Most importantly, if Tencent does not slow down the pace of ecosystem support, Arena of Valor has every chance to maintain its position as the leader in engagement among mobile esports disciplines. Meanwhile, Honor of Kings will be catching up the competition will only intensify.
