The Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 reached its epic conclusion with Nova Esports crowned champions

James Yang, Senior Director of Level Infinite Global Esports Center showcased the Honor of Kings full 2025 esports roadmap which includes seven Honor of Kings Regional Professional Leagues, the introduction of the Honor of Kings Campus Series, and details on the next two global tournaments and grassroots tournament Open Series.

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, March 3, 2025 – Nova Esports emerges victorious as the winners of Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 after taking down Nongshim RedForce in a thrilling grand final performance live in Manila. As champions, Nova takes home the lion’s share of the $300,000 USD prize pool.

James Yang, Senior Director of Level Infinite Global Esports Center took to the stage for a highly anticipated update which saw the presentation of the Honor of Kings full 2025 esports roadmap, with a 15 million USD investment to build the ecosystem globally.

The announcement also revealed details for the Regional Professional Leagues. Six new regional leagues - PKL, MKL, IKL, WKS, KME and KMW - will join KPL (King Pro League,Honor of Kings Professional League in China) and CHOKBR (Honor of Kings Brazil Championship) in the ecosystem. The newly added Regional Professional Leagues enrich the existing esports global esports system, expanding its coverage to more regions in the world.

As the earliest professional league in Honor of Kings esports, KPL has been making a significant economic impact. According to data from China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association, KPL and the whole Honor of Kings esports ecosystem in China has created over 100,000 job opportunities, and it is estimated that the KPL 2024 Grand Final hosted in Beijing, China generated 303 million RMB direct economic benefits and 669 million RMB indirect economic benefits. KPL’s year-end event, Grand Finals 2025, will take place at the Beijing National Stadium a.k.a. the Bird's Nest. With more regional professional leagues, Honor of Kings Esport is committed to join hands with stakeholders and partners around the world to further develop the potential of local esports industries.

Two global tournaments - The KWC (Honor of Kings World Cup) and KIC (Honor of Kings International Championship), will return as the pinnacle competitions, taking place in July at the Esports World Cup and in November respectively. This year's KWC will represent a seminal milestone, as the global teams will confront the champion of KPL Spring Season for the first time in Riyadh.

The Honor of Kings Open Series, which provides a platform for players with no rank restrictions to compete, saw over 150,000 players from around the world sign up for Split 3. With a commitment to inclusivity, the Open Series will return for Split 4 with more details on when and how to sign up in summer. Honor of Kings is also providing opportunities for university students with the introduction of the Honor of Kings Campus Series, which provides more grassroots tournaments and builds a truly open-for-all esports ecosystem. The Campus Series will be supported in 92 countries and regions, with the global prize pool of 100,000 USD.

Turning back to the battlefield, the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 was the first global tournament to introduce the Global Ban&Pick format, a groundbreaking concept introduced in 2018 by KPL with over 8,500 matches played. Designed to highlight the game’s rich roster of heroes, Global Ban&Pick enhances the excitement and provides more variety to each match for players and fans. 71 different heroes were played during S3.  

“Congratulations to Nova Esports on winning the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3. What a historic moment to showcase the excitement and growth of Honor of Kings esports,” said James Yang. “We are also so excited to reveal our plans for the rest of 2025 and beyond, as we continue to build Honor of Kings into a truly global ecosystem. Whether you’re a casual player, university player or professional player we want to provide opportunities for all. Stay tuned, there’s plenty more exciting news on the horizon.”

Fans can catch all the action in Honor of Kings, or on the official Honor of Kings Twitch.tv (@hok_global_esports), Facebook (@hokglobalesports), official website, YouTube (@hokglobalesports) channel and TikTok (@hokglobalesports).