esports
The Chinese mobile phenomenon has established itself as a rising Western esport, and Tencent plans to do more and more in 2019, as we hear straight from the studio.
Tencent's Honour of Kings has been an enormous hit in its home country of China, as the 5v5 smartphone and tablet MOBA has pulled in hundreds of millions of players, generated more than $3.5 billion in revenue, and established a thriving esports scene. It's a true phenomenon, and that's the kind of success that Tencent is trying to replicate with the Western version, Arena of Valor.
Launched at the tail end of 2017, Arena of Valor quickly set its sights on building an esports presence, with Tencent pouring more than $1,000,000 into 2018's events, like the two Valor Series seasons and the Arena of Valor World Cup. Mobile esports still isn't nearly as established in the West as in the East, but Tencent sees an opportunity to help make it stick with its slick, PC-esque MOBA.
With season three of the Valor Series getting underway, we spoke with Tencent America's director of esports, Ramon Hermann, about last year's growth, and how they plan to keep Arena of Valor chugging ahead in 2019.
Entering the arena
With sizable prize pools from the start, and flashy live events to match, Arena of Valor quickly made a case for itself as an esport in 2018. Granted, steady viewership and a grassroots community following are things that must grow gradually over time, but Tencent came out of the gate swinging, and ready to make an impact.
"It was a fantastic first year for Arena of Valor esports, and the launch of Valor Series in three regions – North America, Europe and Latin America," says Hermann. "The year's highlights included live tournaments at marquee gaming events around the world, such as E3 and Gamescom, two full seasons of esports, expansion into Latin America, the Arena of Valor World Cup, the Arena of Valor International Championship, and the largest-ever prize pool for a mobile game, topping well over $1,000,000 in total prizes."
For Hermann, seeing Arena of Valor evolve and expand as an international game has been the most promising development, as multiple regions are producing strong teams and showing their skills on the biggest stages.
Asked what makes convinced of the game's esports future, he replied, "Of the several examples of iconic moments throughout the year, the continued strength of Arena of Valor as a global esport has to be the best. This point was underpinned by seeing North America compete, and win, against Eastern teams on the global stage for the first time in Arena of Valor history."
Tencent put on two Valor Series seasons in 2018, with the second season adding Latin America to the fray, while bumping up the prize pool. Season three, which just held its first weekend of competition, largely keeps the same core structure, while making more of a push to bring in grassroots teams and increase its international presence by looping in more broadcasting languages, such as Turkish.
"We've embraced all three Western regions, and have curated a one-of-a-kind open qualifier format that allows grassroots teams to form and compete with some of the most competitive organisations in esports," explains Hermann. "This year, we're doubling down on this grassroots approach, and challenging our community to group up with four of their friends and compete for their chance to take home part of the $200,000 prize pool."
More Valor in store
Tencent's plan for Arena of Valor in 2019 is understandably to do more, more, more. They're working on finalising details for the next Valor Series championship, and want to create more competitions for players of all stripes to get involved – not just the pro titans sitting at the top of the pile. The Red Bull M.E.O. by ESL event featured Arena of Valor alongside Clash Royale and Brawl Stars, and Hermann sees an opportunity to build even more of a competitive presence in future mobile-centric competitions.
"One of our goals is to provide additional opportunities for players who're looking for a challenge, and an opportunity to compete," he says. "This is where Red Bull M.E.O. is a great fit for Arena of Valor, and one that I'm personally excited to get off the ground as an additional esports competition."
Honour of Kings is a unique beast in China, with its King Pro League (KPL) transforming into a location-based franchise league along the lines of Overwatch League, complete with huge non-endemic sponsors. Hermann says that while Arena of Valor and Honour of Kings aren't exactly the same, and they exist in much different gaming markets, the road taken by Honour of Kings esports can help inform their own path ahead.
"Honour of Kings has been a runaway hit in China, and has gone a long way to proving the viability and potential of mobile esports as a platform on a massive scale," he affirms. "While Honour of Kings and Arena of Valor are inherently different games, we've been able to use what Honour of Kings has been able to accomplish as a sort of template for where we'd like to take mobile esports in the West."
Clash Royale, the other large scale mobile esports game in the West, has charted a different kind of path forward – one inherently focused on the mobile nature of the experience, including broadcasting in portrait orientation. For Tencent, the goal is less about the mobile platform, and more about highlighting the core experience. It might be played on smartphones and tablets, but it delivers the polish and depth of a PC-level MOBA. With the similar mobile MOBA, Vainglory, taking a step back as an esport over the last year, Arena of Valor has an opportunity to fill that void, and then try to kick things up a notch.
"We're seeing that when fans gravitate toward the fast-paced AAA nature of Arena of Valor, they're doing so because it offers a competitive esports experience," says Hermann. "This experience transcends platform."
