• Fans of mobile MOBAs can witness an intriguing phenomenon right now. Major LAN tournaments are happening concurrently in China and Vietnam: the Honor of Kings International Championship 2023 and the Arena of Valor International Championship 2023. The prize pool for the former is nearly 20 times larger, yet the number of non-Chinese spectators for the latter tournament is significantly higher. This disparity is quite surprising considering that Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor are essentially very similar (some may even label them as the same) games from the same developer.

• Distinguishing between Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor is genuinely challenging to an external observer since they closely resemble each other visually. Both titles represent mobile MOBAs, gameplay-wise reminiscent of Riot Games' League of Legends. TiMi Studios released Honor of Kings a year before Arena of Valor, and since then, both projects have evolved independently from each other. They are so alike that they borrow heroes, artifacts, and map design elements from each other. The similarity between the two games is especially noticeable in esports tournaments. For instance, teams are practically allowed to select some heroes from Arena of Valor at Honor of Kings championship.

• Despite the obvious similarity, the publishers position these games as separate projects. This is due to the emphasis on promoting Honor of Kings more in the Chinese market, while the branding and development of Arena of Valor have always been more focused on Southeast Asia and other regions outside mainland China. Consequently, these two very similar titles have developed different tournament series and marketing models. For instance, players who competed in regional leagues for Arena of Valor are not permitted to participate in the Honor of Kings International Championship 2023. Because of this, some clubs have to field different sets of players for tournaments in these disciplines.