Honor of Kings spin-off Honor of Kings: World part of first batch of releases approved by regulator

• The upcoming Honor of Kings spin-off Honor of Kings: World has gotten the green light
• It was approved as part of the first batch of games in 2025 by Chinese regulators
• We don’t know a solid release date yet, but this does mean it should be coming relatively soon

Honor of Kings: World, the upcoming open-world RPG spin-off of Tencent’s hit MOBA, has finally gotten the green light from Chinese regulators. It was approved as part of the first batch of new releases approved for 2025; as all games in China require regulator approval before release.

Honor of Kings: World, as you might expect from the title, expands the scope of the Honor of Kings universe to let you explore an entire open world. It was showcased heavily as part of their showcase for the upcoming iPhone 16 with its flashy graphics and open-world gameplay.

I shouldn’t need to introduce Honor of Kings to you guys, considering it’s arguably one of the world’s biggest MOBAs. Even though it was previously restricted to China and other Asian nations, it grew to be even bigger than Riot Games’ flagship for the genre League of Legends. And now, for those MOBA-sceptics out thee it seems Honor of Kings: World may be the teaser they need to become invested.

A world away

While this may not seem like the biggest of news, for a long while a gaming licencing ‘freeze’ was in effect over in China a year or two ago. This was big news on the industry side of things as it served to stymie the enormous development and publishing industry over there, before abruptly thawing with a subsequent glut of releases.

Since then, people all over the world have eyed these approvals, as it can give us a bit of an idea of when we can expect these new releases to hit storefronts. It’s worth noting that according to the South China Morning Post, this month’s wave of approvals surpasses even the highest amount of monthly approvals last year.

Are we going to see an overwhelming wave of games coming from China in 2025? Could this see some overshadowed by others? Stay tuned, we’ll have to wait and see.