Monetization

Overview

Honor of Kings: World uses a cosmetic-only monetization model. The game is free-to-play with no upfront purchase, and there is no character gacha. All balance-affecting resources including ResonancesTalentssummoned spirits (Huanling)equipment, and PvP ranks are earned through gameplay rather than purchased. The storefront sells cosmetic outfits, vehicle skins, home decorations, battle passes, and monthly cards.

Direct Primary-Source Quote

primary text states directly: "所有影响战斗平衡的核心资源均可免费获取，无角色抽卡机制" ("All core resources affecting combat balance can be obtained for free; there is no character gacha mechanic"). This is the cleanest primary-source confirmation of the cosmetic-only model in any HoKW coverage. further describes the model as "外观付费为主的商业化模式" ("a monetization model based primarily on cosmetic payments"). The Tencent S0 landing page confirms this framing.

Confirmed Priced Items (S0 Season)

Jing Po (晶珀 / Crystal Amber) is the game's premium currency. Free-to-play players can accumulate an estimated 10,000 or more Jing Po per week through quests, events, and daily activities, launch monetization breakdown. See Jing Po for exact package pricesBattle Pass for the full pass-tier comparison, and Heavenly Reward for the cosmetic pity banner.

Heavenly Reward (天赏) Cosmetic Banner

The only pity-style mechanic in Honor of Kings: World at launch is the Heavenly Reward (天赏) cosmetic banner, which is used exclusively for Mythic-tier outfit skins. monetization guide, a single pull costs roughly 160 CNY, the pity threshold sits at approximately 15 pulls (around 2,400 CNY total for a guaranteed Mythic outfit), and the main-character Heavenly Reward outfit pity is approximately 18,000 Jing Po. uses Dongfang Yao's Heavenly Reward skin as the concrete example. Heavenly Reward is a cosmetic-only gacha: no combat characters, Talents, or equipment can be pulled from it. It does not affect game balance.

What Cannot Be Purchased

• Resonances (共鸣 / combat styles) unlocked through story, exploration, and events (or direct-purchased as a one-off)

• Talents (天赋) earned through Resonance progression

• Huanling summoned spirits captured, bonded, or quest-rewarded

• Equipment and gear dropped from enemies, crafted, or quest-rewarded. See Gear System

• Inscriptions (铭文) obtained without payment launch guide

• PvP ranks and rewards earned through competitive play

• Main story and side quest content fully free-to-access

• Housing plots basic construction is free; decorations may be purchased cosmetically

Official Developer Position

During GDC 2025 developer Q&A sessions covered by, the TiMi team stated that Honor of Kings: World contains "nothing that is pay-to-win." The team has framed the storefront as focused on social elements (outfits, mount skins, home decorations) rather than combat power. The launch-day confirmed that the shipped monetization model matches this pre-launch commitment. Chinese community sentiment on the model has been largely positive; the launch review explicitly praised the absence of character gacha as one of the game's strongest aspects.

Widely Circulating Unverified Claims

The following claims have appeared on third-party English-language sites without Tencent confirmation and should be treated as either unverified or as direct copies of Genshin Impact mechanics that are not present in Honor of Kings: World at launch:

• A 0.6 percent 5-star gacha drop rate (copied from Genshin Impact)

• 90-pull character pity thresholds (copied from Genshin Impact)

• 80-pull weapon pity thresholds (not applicable; there is no weapon gacha)

• A weapon gacha system

• Stamina-style energy systems that gate daily activities with micropurchase refills

Many of the specific pull-rate numbers circulating online are identical to Genshin Impact's system and appear to have been imported from that game's documentation rather than sourced from HoKW material. See Gacha and Pity System for more.

Chinese Regulatory Context

Honor of Kings: World's cosmetic-only model fits within the current Chinese gaming regulatory framework, which in recent years has tightened rules on loot boxes, gacha mechanics, and spending caps. The game is rated 12+ by Chinese 适龄提示 guidelines. The decision to build Honor of Kings: World without character gacha may partly reflect these regulatory pressures, though TiMi has not attributed the design choice to regulation specifically.

Verified Tianshang Banner Rates

Earlier drafts of this wiki mentioned gacha mechanics like 'Red tier 150/pull, 160-pull pity' or 'Gold tier 150/pull, 120-pull pity'. Those numbers were speculative pre-launch estimates. Based -launch monetization deep-dive (article 111256504 on April 5, 2026), the confirmed launch Tianshang (天赏) banner mechanics are:

Currency Structure Clarification

The launch currency structure is simpler than some pre-launch drafts suggested. The two confirmed currencies are:

• 钻石 (Diamonds): Premium currency purchasable with real money, direct 1 CNY = 1 钻石 at standard top-up rate.

• 晶珀 (Jingpo): Primary cosmetic-spending currency. Earned through gameplay (approximately 10,000+ per month at 3+ hours per day), battle pass progression, events, daily quests, and milestone rewards. Also purchasable with diamonds or cash.

A third name '璇晶 (Xuanjing)' that appeared in some early wiki drafts is unverified and does not show up in any post-launch Chinese primary source. It should not be cited as a live currency name until verified.

Confirmed Skin Price Anchors

Skin-Only Model Reinforced by April 2026 Previews

Pre-launch coverage in April 2026 repeatedly described the monetization model of Honor of Kings: World as unusually clean for a large free-to-play release. Content creators who had access to the closed beta summarized the spending side of the game in a single line: the main focus is skins, with a battle pass sitting alongside cosmetic purchases. Everything else that affects how a player performs in combat is intended to be earned through play.

The studio is leaning on the same skill-over-spending identity that carried its sister title, the Honor of Kings MOBA, into one of the highest-grossing competitive games in the world. Paid items decorate the character. They do not accelerate damage, defense, cooldowns, or any other number that matters during a boss fight or group activity.

What Paid Spending Does Not Grant

According to pre-launch previews, purchasing any product in Honor of Kings: World does not provide any of the following gameplay advantages:

• No extra stats: skins, banners, and battle pass rewards do not add attack, defense, health, elemental resistance, cooldown reduction, or any other combat stat.

• No exclusive power: there is no premium weapon, armor, relic, or talent tier locked behind a paywall.

• No stamina shortcut for gear tiers: paid currency cannot be used to raise a character's maximum level above what free progression already allows.

• No pay-to-win mechanics: previews consistently describe the game as free of the classic gacha loops where spending directly translates into a stronger loadout.

• No skipped grind for core content: story chapters, dungeons, and open-world regions do not gate rewards behind a cash wall.

Characters Are Obtainable Without Spending

Every playable hero in the roster can be unlocked through normal play. Previewers stressed that a player who never buys a single skin can still collect the entire list of heroes by working through quests, events, season rewards, and shop purchases made with in-game currency earned during regular sessions.

In-game currency is handed out through daily and weekly activities, achievements, story progression, and the free track of the battle pass. Because heroes rotate into the shop over time, patient players who stockpile earned currency can acquire even the most recent additions without opening a wallet.

The Skill-Over-Spending Philosophy

The clean monetization pitch is intentional. The team carried the MOBA's identity across to the open-world project, where the phrase used by creators in their previews is that skill matters more than spending. A whale wallet buys a pretty wardrobe; it does not buy a better build.

This design choice ties directly to the Heavenly Reward skin system and the gacha and pity system. Both revolve around cosmetic drops, not statistical upgrades. A player who pulls nothing from a featured banner keeps the same character sheet they started with.

Summary of the Paid Surface Area

Every row in the table above is consumed by cosmetics or small convenience utilities. None of the products grant a raw numeric edge in combat or open-world exploration. This is the shape of the model that pre-launch previews repeatedly flagged as one of the most anticipated aspects of the release.

Why This Matters for New Players

New players coming from other free-to-play open-world games often expect at least one of three things: timed-exclusive weapons, paid stat boosts on equipment, or gacha characters that clearly out-class the starter roster. Honor of Kings: World is built to avoid all three. The roster is built to be balanced around skill expression, and the shop exists on a parallel track as a wardrobe for the characters the player already owns.

As a practical rule of thumb: if a currency can be earned simply by logging in and playing, it can also buy the highest-impact items in the game. The only things the wallet unlocks faster are paint jobs.