Honor of Kings: Ace & World could very well eat Riot's lunch off the back of their Gamescom demo

• Honor of Kings: Ace and Honor of Kings: World were high on my list at Gamescom 2026
• And after trying out their demos, I think Tencent may just have the edge over Riot
• Both games offer an approachable and well-crafted way to engage with the world of HoK

Believe it or not, we've still got coverage to go through from Gamescom last week. And for good reason, because after going hands-on with both the upcoming Honor of Kings: World and Honor of Kings: Ace, I've not only been thoroughly impressed, but a little worried about Riot Games' future.

Now, for context, Honor of Kings is arguably the biggest MOBA in the world, outsizing even Riot's famous League of Legends. Tencent have a big stake in Riot, but that hasn't stopped them from putting out competitors. Because yes, if you look at the surface level, Honor of Kings: Ace is very much just League of Legends: Wild Rift with a new coat of paint, although that's selling it short.

Either way, let's get started with the most different of the two that I played: Honor of Kings: World.

Stepping into ARPG action in HoK: World

Honor of Kings: World is a pretty straightforward MMO-like with ARPG elements. Pitched as a companion to the main MOBA experience, you play as a student at the Jixia Academy being trained to wield the Flow as you explore the world of Primaera. Not only will you have all the classic elements of exploration, co-op and social systems, you'll also be able to switch to your favourite HoK characters and use their iconic abilities.

Honor of Kings: World is undoubtedly a great way for new players to step into the world of the hit MOBA. It's much more approachable for those who aren't fans of the battle arena genre, while also having plenty of fan service and recognisable elements for longtime players. I was particularly impressed with the high-flying hack 'n slash combat that reminded me strongly of Tekken (as mentioned in the last podcast).

And, of course, to tie it into my mention of Riot, this is a game that would undoubtedly do numbers were it set in the world of Runeterra. However, while 2XKO floundered and was eventually shuttered, Tencent have leveraged their enormous resources to produce something that I think will be a big hit on global release.

Honor of Kings: Ace offers engaging autochess

Now, it's no secret I dislike autobattlers (I probably mention it too much). But it bears repeating here, if only because Honor of Kings: Ace, from what little I got to play as I mainly focused on World, really grabbed my attention. And that's especially impressive, considering I know next to nothing about the world of HoK.

Similar to Wild Rift and Magic Chess: Go Go, in Honor of Kings: Ace, you select units based on iconic heroes and place them on a grid. After you kick off each battle, they attack at will, and whichever player in the matchup loses has their health reduced. Rinse and repeat until only one out of the ranking is left standing.

What makes Honor of Kings: Ace stand out is... hard to nail down. But it feels like it has higher production values, with fancy but minimalist UI and a very rough-and-ready soundtrack that adds to the 'tournament' vibe. You'll also find the usual mechanics of synergies, awakened cards and merging, which makes it familiar even to relative newbies of the autochess genre, like myself.

Honor of Kings is one to watch

Honestly, the only thing Honor of Kings hasn't achieved so far is the same level of recognition as League of Legends. After the success of Arcane, even casual followers of LoL can name characters such as Jinx, or the concept of Hextech and the nation of Noxus. That kind of pop-culture impact can't be discounted, and it's key to League's enduring popularity.

In contrast, while Tencent has gone to great lengths to publicise HoK with feature roles in the Secret Level anthology on Amazon Prime, among other projects, they haven't quite matched League's depth of lore and broad recognition. But I think that will slowly but surely change if Ace and World are any indication.

With sky-high production values that probe at existing audiences of MiHoYo and Riot alike, it's only a matter of time before Honor of King's Eastern-inspired fantasy becomes recognisable even to casual players in the West. Whether it reaches the same stratospheric success outside of China is another matter, but it won't be for lack of trying.

Even so, Honor of Kings: World and Ace were far from the only standouts at Gamescom 2026. Why not check out some of my pics from the Gamescom show floor, or my preview of Silver Palace to see some of what made this record-breaking show stand out?