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October 2021: announcement
Honor of Kings: World was first announced in October 2021 by TiMi Studio Group. The announcement revealed the game as an open-world action RPG expanding the Honor of Kings franchise into a new genre.
2023: NVIDIA partnership
At Computex 2023, NVIDIA announced that Honor of Kings: World would support DLSS 3 and Ray Tracing at launch. The game uses Lumen (Unreal Engine 5's dynamic global illumination system) with indirect light sources. WCCFTech covered the NVIDIA announcement.
March 2025: GDC hands-on
Honor of Kings: World had its first press-only hands-on demo at GDC 2025 in San Francisco. The demo included story missions and a dungeon with environmental puzzles involving ice grenade mechanics for freezing blocks. Lead Designer Simon gave a developer Q&A where he discussed the game's F2P model, solo accessibility, and combat philosophy.
WCCFTech's reviewer wrote: "I would absolutely check out Honor of Kings: World again sometime later this year."
July 2025: China PC closed beta
Recruitment for the first PC closed beta test in China ran from June 25 to July 14, 2025. The test itself took place on July 24, 2025. Player data was wiped after the test and no spending was permitted during the beta period.
August 2025: Gamescom
The game's first public playable demo debuted at Gamescom 2025 (August 20-24, Cologne, Germany) in Hall 9, Booth B040. A new trailer was shown at Opening Night Live. The demo featured cooperative boss battles with both mouse-and-keyboard and controller support.
Lead Combat Designer Big Huang said: "We've been working very hard on Honor of Kings: World and Opening Night Live was the perfect moment to give players a true taste of what's ahead."
January 2026: mobile closed beta
The first mobile closed beta recruitment opened in China from January 16-20, 2026, for Android and iOS. Registration required a WeChat or QQ account. This test focused on mobile performance optimization.
Spring 2026: China launch
The game's China launch for PC and mobile is confirmed for Spring 2026, per an official Steam announcement. The global launch timing has not been announced, though the Gamescom 2025 presence and English-language marketing suggest a worldwide release is planned.