Get ready to level up your gaming news! Honor of Kings just dropped bombshell stats: a mind-blowing 139 million daily active users (DAU) on the Chinese mainland server and over 260 million monthly active users (MAU) worldwide. 🚀 That’s a new all-time high, crushing its previous 100M DAU record set earlier this year.
These numbers come as the game celebrates its 10th anniversary. To keep the hype rolling, the developer also teased two exciting spin-offs: “Honor of Kings: World” is aiming for a spring 2026 launch, and “Honor of Kings: Wanxiang Chess” kicks off large-scale testing this December. 🎉
But Honor of Kings isn’t the only Chinese title making waves globally. Hits like Genshin Impact, Black Myth: Wukong, Whiteout Survival, and Clash of Kings have also found massive audiences outside the Chinese mainland. According to a July 2025 report on game industry globalization, Chinese companies claim 38 of the top 100 spots among global mobile game publishers, thanks in part to growing overseas investments.
From One-Time Deals to Deep Localization
The journey started in the 1990s with simple licensing deals that cut out developers from future profits. By 2013, mobile games began to surge. Fast forward to 2015, and the Chinese mainland’s mobile gaming market was booming, pushing companies to look beyond home turf.
Between 2018 and 2024, overseas revenue for Chinese-developed games jumped from $9.59 billion to $18.56 billion, boosting the export share from 27.8% to 33.6%. Now, giants like Tencent Games are setting up local R&D hubs and building international brands – a big shift in how the industry plays the globalization game. 🌍
With Honor of Kings leading the charge, the future looks bright for Chinese games going global. Gather your squad, because the world stage is the next battleground! 🎮✨
Reference(s):
Honor of Kings sets new record with 139 million daily active users
cgtn.com
