Video game developer Level Infinite and Esports World Cup Foundation has revealed that MOBA title Honor of Kings will join the upcoming Esports World Cup this summer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Honor of Kings Invitational Midseason event will see 12 teams from across the globe lock horns for a $3 million prize pool and the opportunity to secure a spot in the Honor of Kings Invitational Championship later this year.

Scheduled to commence in August, the Honor of Kings Invitational Midseason aims to provide participating teams with a competitive environment and high stakes. China's KPL Dream Team is the first team to be revealed for the competition with more teams to be unveiled soon.

“The Esports World Cup is an exciting and unique opportunity to bring international esports recognition to the world’s most played mobile MOBA title,” said James Yang, senior director of Level Infinite global esports center, Tencent Games.

“Honor of Kings is the latest example of our commitment to the mobile esports space, as we continue to prioritise our investment in the esports landscape. We can’t wait to kick off the launch of the Global Invitational Series with the Honor of Kings Invitational Season One on March 2 in Istanbul," added Yang.

Growing the esports ecosystem

This announcement comes after Tencent's recent unveiling of the Global Invitational Series, a new esports circuit for Honor of Kings along with the company's $15 million pledge to support the growth of the Honor of Kings esports ecosystem as the series gets set to commence in March.

During the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 1, 12 teams will vie for a $300K prize pool and a chance to move on to Season 2. The top teams from Season 2 will then advance to the Honor of Kings Invitational Midseason in the Esports World Cup. The winner of the Invitational Midseason will earn a spot in the pinnacle event - the Invitational Championship - to crown the first Honor of Kings Invitational year-end world champion.

Come February 21, Honor of Kings will also expand to several new regions including the Middle East, North Africa, Türkiye, Eastern Europe, and South Asia. Currently, more than a million players have pre-registered for the game.