Arena of Valor, China’s mobile League of Legends, is aiming to be the world’s go-to mobile esport

Known as Honor of Kings in China, this Tencent game is one of the world’s most popular, with 200 million players. It’s a MOBA, like League of Legends -- but in bite-size form for mobile.

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Arena of Valor, China’s mobile League of Legends, is aiming to be the world’s go-to mobile esport

Josh Ye

Published: 9:28pm, 6 Sep 2018Updated: 8:08am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Imagine League of Legends on mobile -- but alongside the original fantasy heroes, you can also find Superman, Batman, The Joker and other iconic DC comics characters.

That’s Arena of Valor, one of the biggest games in the world.

It’s a free-to-play 5-vs-5 multiplayer online battle arena, or MOBA, developed by China’s biggest gaming company Tencent.

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In China, Arena of Valor is known by another name -- Honor of Kings. It’s the biggest mobile game in the country, with Tencent boasting that it had 200 million users at its peak.

How do you play it?

Similar to the world-leading esports title League of Legends, which is also owned by Tencent through its subsidiary Riot Games, Arena of Valor (AoV) is a game where two teams of five players try to demolish opposing team’s turrets and base.

In line with the standard MOBA format, there are three lanes on the map where the teams can travel to the enemy's’ base. To get to the base, players have to mow down two turrets on each lane. The base is made of three base turrets and a nexus. To win, you have to destroy the nexus.

Arena of Valor pits two teams of five against each other. (Picture: Tencent)

MOBA games are all about teamwork, and Arena of Valor is no exception. Teams are made up of heroes with very different skills. A good side should have a balanced variety of different abilities.