One of China’s most wildly popular mobile games is coming to North America, South America, and Canada, and you have probably never heard of it. Recently announced during a Twitch stream, now the Americas and Canada will have the chance to experience Arena of Valor for themselves on December 19th.
Arena of Valor took China by storm when it released in back in 2015 under the name, Honor of Kings. It follows the traditional MOBA formula — two teams of five players work together to destroy the base of the other. However, one of its biggest differences is that their character come from Western tropes versus Chinese legends. They have even included DC characters for the western release.
As of today, there are about 200 million registered players with 80 million users logging in to play every day. Arena of Valor is so popular that the developer, Tencent, had to put time restrictions in the game for players under twelve. There were even internet rumors circulating that a girl went blind from staring at the game on her phone for so long.
Arena of Valor doesn’t have much of a fanbase outside of China except for Twitch tournaments. But back in August of this year, the game was released in Europe. With over 2 million downloads, Arena of Valor saw some success but not exactly what the developers were hoping for. In an attempt to hype up the mobile game’s international release, Tencent has begun work on creating an eSports league centered around the MOBA. To get the ball rolling, they have teamed up with livestreamers all over the world, but they still have a long way to go.
Arena of Valor is available now on Android and iOS devices, and may even be available on the Nintendo Switch at a later date. Do you plan on giving it a go? Let us know in the comments below!
