The 2024 Honor of Kings season wrapped up on a high note with record-breaking viewership at the 2024 Honor of Kings Championship. This year marked the debut of the Invitational Series format, succeeding the original International Championship and making it the game’s most-watched tournament to date.
For the first time, Chinese teams didn’t compete in the Honor of Kings World Championship due to their participation in the KPL Grand Finals to determine the King Pro League season’s top team. Unlike last year, teams from Arena of Valor leagues were also absent, as they’ll have their own global event, the Arena of Valor International Championship 2024, from November to December.
Malaysian team Black Shrew Esport made history by defeating Dominator Esports 4:0 in the Grand Final, becoming the first non-Chinese team to claim a world title in the game. This was also Malaysia’s first-ever world title in esports, with Black Shrew Esport taking home $300,000 from the $1 million prize pool. Their jungler, MSKing, earned the tournament MVP with four MVP wins in the Playoffs.
2024 Honor of Kings Championship Viewership Insights
The Grand Final drew a peak of 387K viewers. Making it the second-most-watched Honor of Kings event, following the Invitational Midseason 2024 held at the Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia. With 3 million hours watched, the event set a new esports viewership record for the title, surpassing the EWC 2024 by nearly 20% with triple the airtime.
Compared to the Honor of Kings International Championship 2023, this year’s event saw major growth in audience engagement, even with a reduced schedule of 12 days instead of 18. The number of channels covering the event also increased more than tenfold.
Top Teams and Languages at the 2024 Honor of Kings Championship
Earlier this year, Honor of Kings launched globally, reaching a much broader audience thanks to international co-casters. This exposure increased from four to eight livestreaming platforms, with TikTok contributing heavily to the tournament’s online viewership.
English, Tagalog, and Indonesian were the top languages, with new records for English and Tagalog co-casts. The game is gradually gaining traction in Europe as well, with minor viewership from Dutch, French, and Turkish audiences, a promising sign for future tournaments.
It’s worth noting that the 2023 HoK International Championship might have drawn an even larger audience had Chinese teams participated. With international growth off to a strong start, the next edition of the Championship promises to attract an even broader viewership.
