Honor of Kings
GameBy TiMi Studio Group · Released Nov 26, 2015
Documents about Honor of Kings
Esports Foundation Postpones Nations Cup: 2027
The Esports Foundation has officially postponed the inaugural Esports Nations Cup from November 2026 to November 2027. Despite the delay, the event remains slated to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- The Esports Foundation has postponed the inaugural Esports Nations Cup from November 2026 to November 2027, despite having already completed most qualifying rounds and secured a $45 million funding commitment.
- The postponement follows the Foundation's decision to move its 2026 Esports World Cup from Riyadh to Paris, citing regional instability as a primary concern for players and fans.
- The Foundation has not yet clarified whether previously completed qualifier results and confirmed team rosters will remain valid for the 2027 event or if the qualification process will be restarted.
July 2026 Mobile Game Rankings: Football Filled Downloads, Pokémon GO Lifted Revenue
The mobile gaming market in July 2026 was defined by event-driven performance, with significant disparities between download volume and revenue generation.
- Global mobile game revenue for the top 10 titles grew 4.3% to $795.3 million in July 2026, driven largely by Pokémon GO entering the chart at No. 2 with $108.6 million in revenue during its tenth-anniversary month.
- Global downloads for the top 10 games declined 7.1% to 162.3 million, as the market saw a shift toward event-led titles rather than broad expansion.
- The FIFA World Cup significantly impacted the download charts, with Soccer Superstar, Football League 2026, and eFootball all entering the global top 10.
China’s Big Bet on AI for Games
The Chinese gaming industry has transitioned from experimental AI usage to a systemic, industrial-scale integration of artificial intelligence across production pipelines and core gameplay.
- Chinese game studios are aggressively industrializing AI to combat rising costs and falling hit rates, with companies like 37 Interactive reporting that AI now produces over 80% of their 2D art and assists in over 70% of ad video creation.
- The gap between Western and Chinese development is widening as Chinese firms prioritize rapid execution over risk minimization, exemplified by 37 Interactive shipping an AI-native mini-game in 10 days—a project that would traditionally require six months.
- AI-driven game cloning has reached industrial scale, allowing developers to produce knockoffs in roughly one day, which forces indie studios to build deeper creative moats beyond just novel concepts to remain competitive.
The Final Hurdle Mobile Esports Must Clear in the West
Mobile esports has achieved massive success in Asian markets, yet it continues to face significant adoption hurdles in the West.
- Mobile esports has achieved significant scale in China, with Honor of Kings setting a record of 139 million daily active users in late 2025 and its grand finals drawing 62,000 live attendees.
- The dominance of mobile gaming in Asia is driven by socioeconomic factors, including limited access to high-end PC hardware, widespread mobile connectivity, and cultural habits like short-duration gaming during daily commutes or work breaks.
- Western markets currently view mobile gaming as secondary to console and PC platforms, with app charts dominated by casual titles like Monopoly GO and Candy Crush rather than competitive esports.
Top Mobile Games by Revenue and Downloads: July 2026
The mobile gaming landscape in July 2026 was characterized by significant revenue surges for established titles and shifting trends in user acquisition.
- Honor of Kings revenue surged 42% in July 2026 to $157.6 million, marking its strongest performance since January 2026 due to seasonal summer events.
- Pokémon GO achieved $101.1 million in revenue, its highest monthly total since July 2021, driven by its 10th-anniversary event and first anniversary under Scopely.
- Roblox led the mobile market in July 2026 by securing the top spot in downloads with 22.9 million installs while simultaneously generating $101.6 million in revenue.
Top 10 Worldwide Mobile Games: July 2026
The mobile gaming market in July 2026 demonstrated robust performance, characterized by a 7.7% month-over-month increase in global consumer spending to $6.6 billion and a 2.2% rise in total downloads to 3.72 billion.
- Global mobile game consumer spending reached $6.6 billion in July 2026, representing a 7.7% month-over-month increase.
- Honor of Kings was the highest-grossing mobile game globally in July 2026, driven by seasonal updates, an Inuyasha crossover, and esports tournament activity.
- Global mobile game downloads totaled 3.72 billion in July 2026, a 2.2% increase from the previous month, with India leading at 16.4% of total volume.
2026’s Top Games So Far: Market, Investment and Industry News
The mobile gaming industry landscape for the first half of 2026 reflects a period of significant consolidation, shifting revenue streams, and emerging competitive threats.
- Honor of Kings leads mobile game grossing for 2026 so far, surpassing $1 billion, with new contenders Gossip Harbor and Kingshot also in the top ten.
- Free Fire Max is the most downloaded mobile game for the first half of 2026, ahead of Block Blast, with two Arrows games also entering the top ten.
- Ubisoft's mobile revenue share increased to 19% of total group net bookings, up from 10% year-over-year, driven by the record quarter performance of Invincible: Guarding the Globe.
June 2026 Mobile Game Rankings: World Cup Demand Lifted Downloads, LiveOps Won Revenue
The mobile gaming market in June 2026 exhibited a distinct divergence between user acquisition and monetization.
- Global mobile game downloads for the top 10 titles rose 7.3% to 174.7 million in June 2026, while top 10 revenue remained nearly flat at $762.2 million, a 0.1% increase.
- The FIFA Panini Collection app reached the global top 10 for downloads at No. 6 with 13.8 million installs, driven by the June 11 start of the World Cup.
- Honor of Kings reclaimed the No. 1 revenue spot with a 12.2% monthly increase, bolstered by the launch of its S44 season on June 25.
Weekly Gaming Reports Recap: July 6 - July 10, 2026
The global gaming landscape in mid-2026 reflects a period of significant structural transition, characterized by shifting monetization models, evolving consumer engagement patterns, and the continued dominance of independent creative successes.
- Mobile gaming revenue for top titles saw a significant decline in June 2026, with the top 10 titles earning 10.6 million, a 29% decrease from the previous month.
- Direct-to-consumer (D2C) payment channels are increasingly utilized in mobile gaming, with 35% of studios building solutions in-house and 28% of companies reporting that D2C accounts for over 50% of their total revenue.
- Last War: Survival experienced its third consecutive month of revenue decline, dropping to $71.4 million in June as user acquisition efforts appear to have stalled to their lowest levels since November 2023.
Weekly Industry Briefing: June 2026
The July 2026 industry briefing provides a comprehensive overview of significant developments within the global mobile gaming sector.
- Xbox is cutting 3,200 jobs, spinning out four console game studios, and restructuring its mobile gaming division so that King and Mojang will report directly to Xbox boss Asha Sharma, recognizing them as significant platforms by monthly active players.
- Meta has soft-launched 'Pocket,' an AI-powered 'TikTok for games,' which it acquired through the Gizmo team earlier this year.
- Scopely is actively expanding its influence, rebranding Niantic's games team (responsible for Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now) as Scopely Explore, and funding a new studio from the creator of Umamusume: Pretty Derby to strengthen its presence in the Japanese market.
Esports Audience Trends on Live Streaming
The global esports landscape experienced significant engagement in 2025, generating 2.7 billion hours of watched content on live streaming platforms.
- Esports viewership reached 2.7 billion hours in 2025, surpassing the total live coverage hours of the NBA across all linear and streaming platforms.
- Co-streaming accounted for 1.4 billion hours of viewership in 2025, representing 51.2% of total esports content consumption.
- Major and Premier tournaments dominated the landscape, capturing 86.4% of total esports hours watched, while Minor events outperformed long-running League formats.
Top Mobile Games by Revenue and Downloads: June 2026
The mobile gaming market in June 2026 experienced notable shifts in both revenue generation and user acquisition, driven largely by seasonal sporting events and evolving genre popularity.
- Honor of Kings maintained its top revenue position in June 2026, though its earnings fell 29% month-over-month to $110.6 million.
- Whiteout Survival ($109.1 million) and Royal Match ($102.7 million) secured the second and third revenue spots, showing stability compared to May figures.
- Konami’s eFootball achieved its best-ever month with $43 million in revenue, climbing 6 spots to 12th place as it capitalized on World Cup momentum.
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