Honor of Kings announced its biggest update so far, and we had the change to speak with the game producer, Mr. Dean Huang who shared with us interesting information about the work behind the new update and how it came to be.
1. The June 24 update is the biggest so far since the international launch. Can you walk us through the key innovations, especially around the new hero Flovis and the extensive customization options, and how do you expect it to impact gameplay strategies?
The key innovations for this update include several aspects, such as the post-match star-rewarding system, the Honor Pass system, battlefield updates, voice-to-text function, and a wide range of QOL improvements. Among them, the introduction of the new hero Flowborn stands out as one of the biggest highlights.
Unlike any previous Hero in Honor of Kings, Flowborn was designed to break away from traditional MOBA norms where players select a set Hero before entering the battlefield. Instead, Flowborn represents the player themselves and offers a truly personalised experience. Players can not only customize Flowborn’s appearance, but also choose between different roles— Tank, Mage, or Marksman — each with its own unique weapons, skills, and abilities.
2. The ability to personalize everything from hairstyles to outfits, plus creating 2D posters, is quite unique for a MOBA. How important is player self-expression in your design philosophy?
It is very important. With Flowborn, we wanted to create a Hero that the player can really identify with, from appearance to skill set, offering them the opportunity to acquire diverse weapons and abilities. This will deliver the most personalized gameplay experience in the MOBA genre and further immerse players in the world of Honor of Kings.
3. With over 100 million daily players, how does the team manage gathering and integrating player feedback into updates like this one? Could you share some examples of player suggestions that made it into this update?
Player feedback is incredibly important. Our team collects all kinds of feedback through various channels such as customer service, community discussions, or in-game behavior and post-match data, and it has continuously guided our update plans, including the post-match star-rewarding system, the Honor Pass system, battlefield updates, voice-to-text function, and a wide range of QOL improvements that players will experience in this major update. For example, the lack of consistency of Honor Pass has been a hot topic in the community, and we wanted to address it in the Plus update
by integrating a streamlined mission system, allowing players to quickly and easily find tasks and claim rewards.
Our design team members are hardcore competitive gamers themselves—they make time to play the game regularly, no matter how busy their work schedules are. Their firsthand gameplay experience, along with interactions with other players, often serves as inspiration and reference for our version update plans.
We also stay deeply engaged with the player community, often visiting various forums to observe feedback—even the harsh critiques. Our community team regularly collects and organizes this player input, which plays a key role in shaping our design decisions.
For example, the recent changes to the Honor Pass system were directly driven by player feedback that the rewards felt overly grindy and the rules too complex. We’ve made targeted optimizations to address those concerns in this update.
4. Star rewards now acknowledge individual performance even on the losing side. What motivated this shift, and how do you think it will influence player motivation and game culture?
HOK is a team-based competitive game, and teamwork is its core essence, and we make this change in the hope that this will encourage players to become better team players. As you can see from the post-match summary page, we evaluate player performance using key metrics such as assists, participation rate, and more. Our new post-match system continues this evaluation approach. Players on the losing side who show outstanding overall performance–a comprehensive assessment of personal skills, teamwork, and other factors, not just individual skills–will receive extra rewards. We hope this will motivate players to focus on teamwork rather than chasing individual recognition, helping foster a more team-oriented game culture.
5. The update also brings several QOL improvements. Which of these changes came directly from community feedback?
Our design team members are hardcore competitive gamers themselves—they make time to play the game regularly, no matter how busy their work schedules are. Their firsthand gameplay experience, along with interactions with other players, often serves as inspiration and reference for our version update plans. We also stay deeply engaged with the player community, often “lurking” in various
forums to observe feedback—even the harsh critiques. Our community team regularly collects and organizes this player input, which plays a key role in shaping our design decisions.
For example, the recent changes to the Honor Pass system were directly driven by player feedback that the rewards felt overly grindy and the rules too complex. We’ve made targeted optimizations to address those concerns in this update. Another example is players’ ongoing feedback about the insufficient number of banned heroes. In the new version, we increased the number of banned heroes and introduced a simultaneous ban process for both sides to shorten the banning phase.
6. As a competitive gamer yourself, how do your experiences in esports influence your approach to designing Honor of Kings?
That was quite some time ago, but the experience deeply reinforced my decision to pursue a career in game design. I believe a great game designer must also be a passionate and skilled player. Only by genuinely experiencing the joy and frustrations of gaming can you truly understand where to focus your efforts as a designer.
As a competitive gamer, I’ve explored many different titles, including Hearthstone and Warcraft III. These games share more in common than they appear to at first glance, especially in their emphasis on competitiveness and balance. This pursuit is something we always keep in mind when designing and improving Honour of Kings.
7. What is it about the hero Luna that resonates with you, and do you see elements of her design philosophy reflected in the new hero Flowborn?
I believe that Luna is the hero that suits me the best. Beyond her dashing charisma, as a hardcore player, I appreciate how her skills can be combined in countless ways to adapt to different combat.
One of the main reasons I enjoy playing Luna is the sense of freedom she offers in terms of mechanics. I can use different skill combinations to adapt to various in-game situations.
At its core, this design philosophy aligns closely with Flowborn —both aim to provide players with greater flexibility and freedom within the boundaries of classic gameplay rules and frameworks.
8. Looking ahead, what exciting developments or trends in mobile gaming and MOBA design are you most eager to explore?
First, there is a trend towards refinement and quality. As mobile MOBA games continue to mature, users’ tastes are evolving and their demands for quality are increasing, which in turn drives the industry towards higher standards. Honor of Kings has been continuously upgrading its quality in recent years. In terms of combat feedback, network stability, and other key metrics, we have always held ourselves to the highest industry standards.
Next is the internationalization and localization of themes. Just like the great success of Black Myth: Wukong in 2024, we believe there is still vast potential to be explored within the mythologies and histories of various countries. We are never short of the courage to innovate, and the combination of themes with heroes and skins will unleash tremendous appeal within Honor of Kings.
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We thank Mr. Dean Huang for his time and the details he shared about the game. You can always check more details by visiting its official website.
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