Tencent-owned TiMi Studio Group has announced their first entry into the AAA game space as they attempt to reach a more global audience base. Honor of Kings: World will be an open world for multiple platforms through which platforms it will release on have yet to be specified. Based on the trailer’s high-end graphics, which are powered by Unreal Engine, it looks like it will aim for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series x.
The game itself is a spin-off of Tencent’s hugely popular mobile MOBA game which only recently became the first mobile game to surpass 10 billion in player spending. According to Sensor Tower, The Honor of Kings mobile game has generated $2 billion in earnings in 2021, with two months left to go.
Outside of this popular franchise, TiMi is best known in the west for mobile games such as Call of Duty and Pokemon Unite, with the latter title being also available on the switch. The studio has been gearing up to develop a AAA game for a while now and has been planning on targeting the western market in particular with new studios located in Montreal, Los Angeles, and Seattle.
While it is unclear which studio will be tackling Honor of Kings: World we do know that both the Seattle and Los Angeles branches are part of Team Kaiju, a new studio being headed by Halo 4 lead designer Scott Warner. They are currently working on a new multiplayer FPS.
Previously Tencent had tried to bring Honor of Kings to the west, rebranding it as Arena of Valor. The game struggled to find an audience, taking six months to reach a million installs. By that point, it had only generated $3 million in revenue, something Honor of Kings was making on a daily basis.
Changing the format to something that appeals to western audiences might finally be the ticket the franchise needs to break into the West. With Tencent also one of the most profitable publishers in the world, they also have the cushion to take risky ventures like this.
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