Honor of Kings Invitational off to a hot start as esports title breaks into the global scene

The first-ever Honor of Kings Invitational Series outside of Asia is off to a hot start as the game prepares to launch even further worldwide, according to data from esports statistics provider Esports Charts.

The said tournament, which took place in Istanbul, Turkiye, ended last March 10th and garnered over 46,000 peak viewers across both the in-game player and Western streaming platforms.  Esports Charts said this set a new record for the title before its global release. 

The HoK Invitational Series 2024: Istanbul featured eight teams from Turkey, Brazil, Kazakhstan, and various MENA countries, such as FUT Esports, Twisted Minds, Keyd Stars, and Beşiktaş Esports.

Alpha7 Esports swept Keyd Stars in the finals, 3-0, to take home US$100,000 and a sure slot at the Honor of Kings Invitational Series 2024: Season 2.

 

This grand final got over 46,700k peak views, and was also the tournament’s most-watched match. FUT Esports’ battle against Keyd Stars in the semis garnered a close second, at 27,534 views. This was followed at third place by Stalwart Esports versus Alpha7 in the semifinals as well, at 26,840. 

Rounding out the top 5 are a Stalwart versus IWNRX matchup at the Quarterfinals Day 1 which garnered 23,927 views, and a Pride vs Keyd Stars match that had close to 20,000 peak views.

In total, HoK Invitational Series 2024: Istanbul generated 390,000+ hours watched, with an average viewership of close to 12,000 peak viewers.

“KIS 2024: Istanbul was covered across several dozen channels on platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Kick, and TikTok, as well as within the in-game player of Honor of Kings. The largest audience coverage was observed in the official regional broadcasts in Chinese, Turkish, Portuguese, and Arabic,” Esports Charts said.

Honor of Kings is the Chinese version of the international MOBA title Arena of Valor. After a decade of dominating the Chinese market, the game will finally release worldwide on June 20th, 2024. 

It earlier launched in Brazil in mid-2023 and was warmly welcomed in the country, which has a lucrative MOBA market.