Honkai: Star Rail pays out 600 Stellar Jade after Dota teams place 3-4 at TI12

Honkai: Star Rail, the acclaimed space-fantasy RPG developed by HoYoverse sponsored both Chinese teams for The International 2023 (TI12). As part of the promotion, they ran a campaign offering “free” Stellar Jade to players based on how the teams place at the event.

Based on the campaign, players would gain between 100 and 1000 Stellar Jade based on how Azure Ray or LGD Gaming perform. The terms did not mention if the values will be added up if both teams place within the points.

LGD & Azure Ray break the bank

LGD Gaming and Azure Ray finished 3rd and 5th respectively, meaning Honkai: Star Rail, will have to pay out at least 600 and maybe 1100 Stellar Jade to players.

Details about the extent of both teams’ agreements with Honkai: Star Rail remain undisclosed even when it was annouced ahead of The International. We spotted Honkai: Star Rail branding featured prominently on both teams’ jerseys however.

“LGD Gaming and Honkai: Star Rail have officially reached a cooperation! Honkai: Star Rail will sponsor the LGD Dota 2 division to compete in TI 2023. May this journey lead us starward!,” a translation of LGD’s post read.

Rewards are being distributed starting today until the 15th of November at 6:00am, and available through the in-game mailing system.

Honkai: Star Rail’s unique approach to Dota 2 Sponsorships

It’s noteworthy that a mobile game title, like Honkai: Star Rail sponsoring esports teams, is a move not commonly seen in the industry. In fact, the game doesn’t even offer PvP mode and purely non-competitive PvE fun.

Nevertheless, this sponsorship aligns with HoYoverse’s standing as one of China’s premier game developers and offers an avenue to promote the game at a premier esports event. The longevity and future scale of Honkai: Star Rail’s Esports sponsorships are still unclear, but at least this will offer some exposure to the diehard Dota 2 fans to consider the mobile game genre.

Over 27 million players played the game in October alone, with nearly 1 million new users signing-up during Ti12.

New collaborations in the Dota 2 Scene

With the Dota Pro Circuit discontinued in the upcoming year, third-party tournaments may become more prevalent in the Dota 2 Esports domain. This raises the potential for games like Honkai: Star Rail and even Genshin Impact, another brainchild of HoYoverse, to not only sponsor teams but also entire Dota 2 tournaments. Such sponsorships could signal the increasing overlap of casual gaming titles with the esports sector.

This influence is further evident when considering the fanatic love for these mobile games by Dota 2 professional Wang “Ame” Chunyu, who showcased a cosplay of Genshin Impact’s character, Childe earlier this year. Additionally, a VALORANT player prioritized playing Honkai: Star Rail, even resulting in a match forfeit for his team.

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