Arena of Valor defeats Honor of Kings in World Championship viewership

Arena of Valor has surpassed rival mobile esports title Honor of Kings in International Championship viewership this year.

According to data platform Esports Charts, this year’s Honor of Kings crowning event reached a peak of over 696,000 viewers, while Arena of Valor saw viewership rise to over 742,000.

Its a major turn of events considering the history between the two games. Arena of Valor, formerly Strike of Kings, was originally regarded as the international counterpart to Honor of Kings when it first launched in 2016.

Honor of Kings would not see its global debut until nearly a decade after its original launch, finally rolling out to international audiences on June 20th, 2024.

The International Championship viewership marks a pivotal moment for Arena of Valor as it finally steps out from the shadow of Honor of Kings.

Esports Charts reports that the viewership for the Arena of Valor International Championship 2025 peaked during the Final Day Playoffs. Furthermore, the event accumulated over 21.6m hours watched, with an average viewership of nearly 184,000 across more than 117 hours of airtime.

The International Championship is now the third most popular Arena of Valor event of 2025, behind Arena of Glory Winter and Summer, in terms of peak viewership.

The tournament also ranks as the seventh most popular Arena of Valor event of all time, in terms of peak viewership, surpassed by tournaments like the 2021 Championship (~879,500), and the 2023 Premier League (~974,600).

The Arena of Valor scene continues to grow in popularity despite facing setbacks this year. The Indonesian League, otherwise known as the Star League, held its final season during Spring 2025, which ended on May 11th before being shuttered. As a result, many Indonesian teams were absent from this year’s world championship for the first time.

The Honor of Kings International Championship 2025 reached an average viewership of roughly 29,100 across an airtime of over 110 hours, with 3.2m hours of watch time.

The International Championship 2025 proved to be the most popular Honor of Kings event this year, racing past the World Cup and Invitational Season 3 for peak viewership. It has also become the most popular Honor of King’s event of all time outside of China, smashing the 2024 peak of over 480,000 viewers achieved in the Invitational Midseason.

It’s worth noting that the Honor of Kings International Championship 2025 does not include Chinese teams. In 2024, the mobile title introduced a new global esports plan, bringing in an invitational series and championship, while providing Chinese teams with their own Grand Finals.

What we are seeing is the result of Honor of Kings’ efforts to branch out its esports scene beyond China. Esports Charts shares that prior to 2024, Honor of Kings viewership dwindled between 1000 to nearly 15,000 from 2018 to 2023.

The mobile game has seen significant growth this year in terms of its international presence, and Level Infinite has shown no signs of slowing down as it continues to support its new ecosystem in 2025.