Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile reveal 3-year tie-up with Esports World Cup Foundation

Level Infinite, the Tencent-owned publisher for PUBG Mobile and Honor of Kings, has announced a three-year partnership with the Saudi government-backed Esports World Cup Foundation. This partnership will “drive the PUBG Mobile and Honor of Kings esports ecosystems forward,” a press release said.

“At the Esports World Cup Foundation, one of our core missions is to build a sustainable global esports infrastructure so fans can enjoy our sport for generations to come. Our partnership with Level Infinite directly supports that mission, adding two of the most-played games to the Esports World Cup program for players and fans across the globe,” said Ralf Reichert, the CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation.

Level Infinite x Esports World Cup Foundation: What is in store?

This partnership between Level Infinite and the Esports World Cup Foundation is a unique one. The Esports World Cup Foundation, which will be hosting the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this summer has only announced individual partnerships with publishers for their games in the inaugural edition of the multi-game tournament. Thus, this is the first long-term partnership by the Saudi government-backed non-profit foundation.

Level Infinite and Tencent have been a close part of Saudi Arabia’s aggressive push towards esports. This began with the Gamers8 Festival in 2022, where PUBG Mobile hosted its mid-year World Invitational (PMWI). Now, the Gamers8 Festival has been rebranded to the Esports World Cup and Level Infinite has announced major changes to the PMWI as well.

PUBG Mobile’s mid-year tournament will now be called the PUBG Mobile World Cup. Its 2024 edition is set to feature a $3 million prize pool and will happen in Riyadh during the Esports World Cup.

Honor of Kings, on the other hand, will also be hosting its $3 million Midseason Invitational with 12 international teams. The top teams from here will secure spots in the year-end Invitational Championship as well.

More than 1,000 esports events to be hosted

In the press release, the two entities announced that as a part of the partnership, more than 1,000 esports events will be hosted globally for both games in 2024. It’s unclear what the nature of these events will be, though.

However, this is a good sign for players. Tencent has closed off the PUBG Mobile esports ecosystem significantly with global partnership leagues occupying most of the schedule in the roadmap. While there are still opportunities for players to make it to international events, they have been reduced since previous years. Thus, these competitions, which Level Infinite has said will create “ample opportunities for players across all skill levels” will ensure more events for the grassroots-level ecosystem.

Similarly, Honor of Kings is set to be released globally in a phased manner in 2024. Thus, hosting esports tournaments that are player-centric and focused on bringing attention to the game is the need of the hour. While a $15 million investment has already been announced for the esports ecosystem, this was mostly focused on the global tournaments. Now, though, it seems that Level Infinite and the Esports World Cup Foundation will create more opportunities for players to compete.