Honor of Kings: World GDC 2025 Hands-on and Developer Q&A
TiMi Studio’s signature multiplayer title may not as well known as other MOBA contemporaries outside the Asian market, but Honor of Kings remains one of the most-played titles in the genre. In mainland China, Honor of Kings will be celebrating its tenth anniversary later this year, while the global/Western release only debuted last year. This Multiplayer Online Battle Arena is branching out into new genres for the first time with a (not so massive) multiplayer online RPG titled Honor of Kings: World due out sometime later this year. With a new genre comes a new potential to reach a target audience that might have otherwise overlooked this Chinese epic.
At GDC 2025, Tencent allowed me to jump into a pair of missions and experience a bit of the story, with the implication that this was still fairly early on in the adventure as the main character was still getting a grasp of his powers. Rather than picking a single weapon type and sticking with it, Honor of Kings: World lets players pick a pair of classes from a wide range of melee, spellcasters, and ranged combatants. Each of the different classes holds a similar breadth of skills to one another, from three standard attacks unique to that class, a dodge or evasive ability, and some form of ultimate attack. There’s clearly the potential to mix and match some powerful combinations with class attacks, usually conferring some sort of elemental attack and either a positive buff for the player or a negative debuff for any poor fodder enemies in their path.
In a character action game, the melee combat remains the standard to judge first and foremost, and I’m pleased with how Honor of Kings World makes each weapon feel dynamically different. It’s actually the ranged combat that drew me in and made my experience for this brief hour memorable. One of the eleven classes gave my hero character a massive gun, complete with an active reload mechanic and more than enough supporting fire to never stop firing on the enemy. Large swords are undeniably cool, but pulling off solid ranged combat in a character action game will always capture my heart.
Honor of Kings: World showed off only a small slice of the levels, from a couple of encounters that went straight into boss fights to a moderately lengthy dungeon filled with side paths containing loot and a couple of environmental puzzles. Admittedly, one of the puzzles stumped me because I was thrown into a dungeon without having done a tutorial that would teach me that ice grenades can freeze movable blocks in place. I can’t fault the developers for having to point me in the right direction when I solved two-thirds of a puzzle for a hidden treasure chest but couldn’t finish the final piece of the puzzle.
It may not have been on my radar before GDC 2025, but I would absolutely check out Honor of Kings: World again sometime later this year. While no PlayStation release is a bit of a bummer, the UI and bite-sized missions would be perfect on the go for mobile gamers. After the hands-on, I chatted a bit with Simon, the lead designer for this project.
Tell us a little bit about Honor of Kings: World for newcomers.
We are a next-generation multiplayer adventure RPG. We started from the original IP and we are ready to take it to the next level.
How much of the IP's DNA is there in Honor of Kings: World?
I think it's in everything because of the way we started this project. We took the core concept, like the combat, but then we elevated it. As you can see, every combat style you play is actually a champion from the game, and we actually turned it into a three-dimensional action experience. Also, the story and the world are from the MOBA.
How many of the champions from Honor of Kings will be playable in this new game?
Eventually, I hope all of them, but we are starting with the first champions from the first region because we don't want players to have this feeling like there are hundreds of champions. So, the way we do it is that we introduce a region and the champions who are related to the region and the story. We introduce players to them, and through the updates, we will add more and more and more champions.
Since players are controlling two separate champions, how do you go about balancing the synergy?
First of all, the player is the protagonist. This protagonist has the power to master the flow of the others, so he's learning abilities from the champions. That's the whole concept. We also try to provide you with the fun of this dramatic difference from each combat style, but we still try to keep it at the same level.
If you play the game like a single player experience, I think the difference is the fun part of it. For example, when you select the character with a gun, the shooting and dodging are emphasized a lot. It's a different kind of experience.
When it comes to the multiplayer, you have a little bit of positioning. If you're into counterattacks, you're supposed to engage with the boss constantly. But if you're a ranger, you're supposed to be providing the damage. Then you have something like a support character role, but we want everything, every class in the multiplayer also to be able to fight back, not just like standing there and healing.
Do you feel that Honor of Kings World is trying to do away with the holy trinity of tank, damage dealer, and healer?
We are not going fully exactly on that. The baseline is still that, even if you're a support character, you are meant to have a great action experience. Since you can access two classes, you can actually switch between support and DPS. I mean, if you really want to go for a full support role, you can do that. But normally, you can switch to another style and get into DPS mode, depending on the occasion of the combat.
Can Honor of Kings: World be played entirely solo?
You can if you want. We actually provide quite a lot of a single player experience. It's an option. We provide a non-invasive multiplayer experience for you. At some point, it's always convenient to play with others. Let's say that you feel like a boss fight is too difficult. As a player, you can always call for help, but it's not going to be disruptive.
Can you bring in AI companions?
Yes, it's like an assistant function. If you can't find a friend or you just want to play alone, then there are options for AI companions in the dungeons or stuff like that. So it's more like an accessible assistant function to that.
How's the matchmaking? Can you select, like, I want to play this specific mission and the game tries to match you with other players?
I think it's very straightforward. When you are going to a dungeon, then if you want a team, you can just match with players who are similar to your rank.
At launch, how will players have access to the characters? Will they have access to the whole initial roster? Will they just have access to one or two?
I think we provide several in the storyline, like a basic set. It's actually still quite a few. The way actually way you progress in the story, you get to meet the champions and get familiar with them, and then you learn their abilities. You will have a basic combo set along the way, and it's tailor-made for you to understand the system. Then later on, if you want more, you would just go for purchase.
Are you talking about the business model for Honor of Kings: World yet?
What I can tell you is that we are building monetization around social, so it's going to be around outfits and skins, nothing that is pay-to-win.
Do you know roughly how much buying an additional champion would cost?
We're still working on that.
Are there already any plans for a premium or battle pass?
I think that's very possible in the future. Since monetization is at an early stage of testing right now, we don't have a detailed fixed rule on that, but I think something like that is very likely.
Will Honor of Kings: World be free to play, or do players have to make an initial purchase to play?
No, it's a free-to-play game, so no purchase at all.
Which platforms are you launching on?
Right now, we are focusing on PC and mobile. Hopefully, consoles will be in the future too, but right now, we're focusing on the first two.
Do you have a cross-progression between PC and mobile platforms?
Yeah. Mobile is more like an accessible way for you to play anytime, but it's as if it were the same platform.
Will you have controller support?
Not right now, but we can tell it's really important here, and so I think we will probably have that in the future plans.
Especially for mobile, not everyone prefers playing lengthy RPGs with just the touchscreen.
Yes, I think it's quite important, but right now, we are trying to polish the native mobile experience first.
Are there any crossover events or content planned between Honor of Kings and Honor of Kings: World?
We're talking about it since we are the same IP and the same team. We are gradually talking about how do we actually - I mean, the narrative is already kind of merging together. We are at an early phase of the discussions right now.
What sort of release window do you have in mind for Honor of Kings: World?
We don't have a specific date. What I can tell you is that we are working really hard to bring it online as soon as possible.
Okay. Do you have any beta tests planned in the near future?
We don't have a detailed plan yet. But what we're doing is we are constantly testing through private tests. Every couple of months, we try to iterate the game as quickly as possible. So, I think we can expect further tests in the future,
For fans who may play the MOBA a lot but are not as comfortable or familiar with playing action RPGs, do you have any difficulty or accessibility options for this game?
For now, we are focused on polishing the content. Later on, we should definitely consider that. Even with the mobile version, we must consider a lot of control polishing. I think that's definitely going to be on the radar in the future.
Is there anywhere to sign up or wishlist Honor of Kings: World?
Not yet. We are still working on it. But we'll try our best to bring it to the wishlists as quickly as possible in the future.
When's the next event where players will see more of the game?
I don't know, but we'd love to keep the momentum.
Thank you for your time.
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