Honor of Kings India First Impressions
The world's highest-grossing mobile game finally landed in India on March 11. And for a bunch of us at Moonfrog, it hasn't left the group chat since.
First impression: the game is genuinely good. Honor of Kings is a 5v5 MOBA with tight gameplay, a deep hero roster, fast matchmaking, and zero pay-to-win mechanics. For Indian mobile gaming, that's a meaningful combination.
But the launch experience itself? A bit rough.
Pre-registration was handled through their website, not the Google Play Store or App Store. Which meant that when March 11 arrived, there was no clean "Install Now" button waiting for you. The actual download links came through email, and for some of us, that took more than a day to show up.
For a game that crossed 1 million pre-registrations in India, that first-touch moment needed to be smoother. The peak excitement window after a launch is narrow. A broken install flow is one of the fastest ways to lose it.
Once you're actually in the game though, it delivers. Matches run 15-20 minutes, the hero design is strong, and there's already a solid roadmap: an India-inspired hero drops in June, and India gets two slots at the Esports World Cup 2026.
Dean Huang, Producer at TiMi Studio, said they're here to build a long-term community in India. If the onboarding experience tightens up, that community has a very real foundation to grow on.
I'll have more feedback as I clock more hours. For now, excited to see where this goes.
Have you tried HoK yet? Drop your IGN below. Let's squad up.
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