Honor of Kings
GameBy TiMi Studio Group · Released Nov 26, 2015
Reports and documents about Honor of Kings
Amateur devs score hits with 38-0, WWDC reactions, May's top games, Orna, jobs, data and more
The mobile gaming industry is currently witnessing a surge in amateur-developed hits, driven by the accessibility of AI-assisted coding tools.
- Amateur developers are achieving viral success with AI-assisted football drafting games like '38-0' and '38-0-0', which secured over 100,000 downloads each in a single weekend with zero marketing spend.
- Honor of Kings dominated May’s top-grossing charts with $161 million in in-app purchase revenue, while 'Last War Survival' saw a significant decline, dropping to 10th place with $82 million.
- Apple’s new developer policy offers free access to its AI foundation models for apps until they reach 2 million first-time downloads, a move aimed at supporting indie developers.
BYD Ocean Becomes LPL’s First Chinese Automotive Partner
The League of Legends Pro League (LPL) has secured BYD Ocean as its official automotive partner for the 2026 season.
- BYD Ocean has become the first Chinese automotive partner of the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) for the 2026 season.
- The deal fills a major sponsorship vacancy following the departure of Mercedes-Benz, which ended its eight-year partnership with the LPL prior to the 2026 season.
- The partnership focuses on the BYD Ocean Series, the company's retail brand for electric and plug-in-hybrid vehicles.
Top 10 Worldwide Mobile Games: May 2026
The global mobile gaming market demonstrated consistent growth in May 2026, with total consumer spending reaching $6.6 billion, a 2% increase month-over-month.
- Global mobile game consumer spending reached $6.6 billion in May 2026, a 2% increase month-over-month, with the United States accounting for 29.6% of total revenue.
- Honor of Kings was the highest-grossing mobile game globally in May 2026, driven by live-ops momentum and a high-profile Ne Zha 2 collaboration.
- Global mobile game downloads totaled 3.77 billion in May 2026, a 5% increase month-over-month, led by India with 18.7% of total volume.
OG Esports Signs Dexsport as Headline Sponsor for CS2 Team
OG Esports has entered into a headline sponsorship agreement with the Web3 betting platform Dexsport, specifically targeting its Counter-Strike 2 division.
- OG Esports has rebranded its Counter-Strike 2 team to OG.Dexsport following a headline sponsorship deal with the Web3 betting platform.
- The agreement designates Dexsport as the official betting sponsor for the CS2 roster for a one-year term, featuring branding across team assets and fan activations.
- Chiliz Group, which acquired a 51% stake in OG Esports in September 2025, is central to the organization's current strategy of aligning commercial partnerships with Web3 and fan-engagement platforms.
Video Games Industry Finance Cheat Sheet: Spring 2026
The release outlines the latest financial performance of major video-game companies for Spring 2026, emphasizing a sector under pressure from geopolitical shifts and AI-driven hardware demand.
- Console hardware is underperforming, evidenced by a 33% drop in Xbox hardware sales and flat net sales of $29.9 billion for Sony’s gaming division.
- Tencent’s Value-Add Services division grew 16% YoY to $54.3 billion, significantly outperforming Western console-focused competitors through AI-enhanced content and domestic titles.
- Roblox achieved a 35% increase in daily active users to 132 million, though the company’s net loss widened due to higher expenditures on trust and safety.
Mobile Game Market Review: April 2026
The April 2026 mobile game market review highlights a blend of innovative retention mechanics, event design, and monetization shifts across casual and midcore titles.
- Casual and midcore titles are increasingly adopting hybrid gameplay models, such as Gossip Harbor’s integration of match-3 and merge progression and Dragon Quest Smash’s blend of roguelite and co-op elements.
- Midcore games like Last Z and MLB Perfect Inning are shifting monetization strategies by replacing direct real-money purchases with webstore-based currency systems.
- Event-driven retention strategies are yielding measurable success, exemplified by Hay Day’s April 2026 milestone-based event, which resulted in record monthly revenue.
Mobilegamer.biz Weekly Newsletter: April 2026
The May 2026 edition of the mobilegamer.biz newsletter provides a comprehensive overview of significant corporate developments, market performance, and industry trends within the global mobile gaming sector.
- Supercell is set to fully acquire Metacore, the maker of Merge Mansion, as part of a restructuring that puts 160 jobs at risk and will integrate Merge Mansion into Supercell’s live portfolio after Metacore failed to launch new sustainable games.
- Second Dinner, the studio behind Marvel Snap, has implemented layoffs affecting 16 staff, though work on their second game is continuing.
- Unity reported a 17% year-on-year revenue increase, with CEO Bromberg noting that 90% of game developers are already using AI in their workflows.
Supercell buys Metacore amid brutal layoffs, Second Dinner cuts, inside Scopely x Niantic, more
The mobile games industry is currently navigating a period of significant restructuring and strategic consolidation.
- Supercell has acquired Metacore in a deal involving a €180 million investment, resulting in the layoff of 160 staff members—over half the company—as the studio pivots to focus exclusively on Merge Mansion.
- Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner has laid off 16 employees, though the company confirmed that development on its current roadmap and an unannounced second game remain unaffected.
- Scopely and Niantic executives revealed that their partnership, which has significantly improved revenue performance for titles like Pikmin Bloom, involved intense integration efforts and complex technical collaboration.
Top 10 Worldwide Mobile Games: April 2026
The mobile gaming market in April 2026 demonstrated a clear reliance on live-ops strategies and intellectual property collaborations to drive both revenue and user acquisition.
- Global mobile game consumer spending reached $6.4 billion in April 2026, a 4% decrease month-over-month, with the United States accounting for 30% of total revenue.
- Honor of Kings was the highest-grossing mobile game globally in April 2026, driven by a Season 43 update, cross-title events with Honor of Kings: World, and a Ne Zha 2 collaboration.
- Global mobile game downloads totaled 3.6 billion in April 2026, representing a 9% increase month-over-month, led by India with 613 million downloads (17.1% of the total).
Weekly Industry Briefing: March 2026
The April 2026 industry briefing provides a comprehensive overview of the mobile gaming sector, focusing on performance metrics, corporate strategy, and emerging trends.
- King's VP and head of live ops, Eva Ryott, discussed the company's use of AI, last summer's layoffs, and workplace culture, as well as how Candy Crush Saga is addressing competition in the puzzle genre.
- NetEase and Bungie have rebooted Destiny: Rising with a new update to combat declining revenue, and the community's initial reception to the changes is positive.
- March's top-grossing mobile games saw Gossip Harbor achieve a significant milestone, while Monopoly Go's revenue continued to decline, and Brawl Stars showed renewed success.
🚨📢 BREAKING NEWS: Chinese domination, M&A boom, Freecash controversy
The mobile gaming industry is currently undergoing significant structural shifts characterized by the dominance of Chinese developers, a resurgence in merger and acquisition activity, and regulatory scrutiny of rewarded user acquisition platforms.
- M&A activity in the mobile gaming sector reached $7.7 billion in Q1 2026, representing a threefold increase compared to the same period in 2025.
- Chinese-developed titles such as Last War, Honor of Kings, Whiteout Survival, and Gossip Harbor are increasingly displacing long-standing market leaders like Candy Crush on global top-grossing charts.
- The removal of the rewarded user acquisition platform Freecash from major app stores has triggered industry-wide scrutiny regarding the future viability of rewarded advertising models.
Is Destiny doomed? King on AI, layoffs and more, plus March's top games, data, soft launches, more
The mobile games industry continues to navigate a complex landscape defined by shifting monetization strategies, the integration of artificial intelligence, and intense market competition.
- Microfun’s Gossip Harbor reached $100 million in monthly in-app purchase revenue for the first time in March, marking a significant increase from $82.5 million in February and positioning it to potentially overtake Candy Crush Saga as the top-grossing puzzle game.
- King VP Eva Ryott defended the company's use of AI as a supporting tool for level management rather than a direct replacement for staff, while noting that workforce adjustments following 200 layoffs were necessary to maintain competitive relevance.
- Candy Crush Saga has adopted a 2x2 matching mechanic, a feature King implemented within the last year to align with evolving market standards and compete against rivals like Royal Match and Gossip Harbor.