Arena of Valor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from King of glory)
Arena of Valor
Developer(s)TiMi Studio Group
Publisher(s)Level Infinite, Garena
Producer(s)Ray Ning
(Executive Producer)
EngineUnity[1]
Platform(s)
ReleaseAndroid, iOS
  • TWN: October 12, 2016
  • EU: August 10, 2017
  • NA: December 19, 2017
  • AU: June 28, 2018
Nintendo Switch
  • WW: September 25, 2018
Genre(s)Multiplayer online battle arena
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Arena of Valor (Chinese: 傳說對決; pinyin: Chuánshuō Duìjué), formerly Strike of Kings,[2] is an international adaptation of Honor of Kings (Chinese: 王者荣耀; pinyin: Wángzhě Róngyào), a multiplayer online battle arena developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by Level Infinite for Android, iOS and Nintendo Switch for markets outside Mainland China. As of September 2018, the game has grossed over $140 million outside China.[3] Arena of Valor was one of six Esports video games featured at the 2018 Asian Games, 2019 Southeast Asian Games, 2021 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, and 2021 SEA Games as part of the competitive sport.[4][5][6] Arena of Valor was published in other regions by Garena, DeNA, Actoz SG, and TiMi Studio Group.

Gameplay[edit]

Arena of Valor is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed for mobile. The overall gameplay of Arena of Valor highly resembles League of Legends, a MOBA game on PC developed and published by Riot Games, which is also a subsidiary of Tencent and a sister company to TiMi.[7]

Players control characters, referred to as heroes, and each of these heroes has a unique set of abilities.[8] Heroes start the game at a low level and can earn gold and experience (XP) in various ways: Killing non-player creatures such as minions or monsters, defeating other players, destroying structures, passively through time and through special items that can be purchased through the shop. Earning experience unlocks and augments abilities, making the hero more powerful. Items purchased in the shop do not carry over matches, and therefore all players are on equal footing at the start of every match.

Matches give players rewards, such as gold, which can then be used to buy a variety of heroes or arcana.[9] In addition to this, players can play a 'Ranked' match type, which allows them to be matched with players who are at their skill level and be assessed through in-game 'ranks'.[10] Stars are earned for a victory and lost when the player loses.

Game modes[edit]

There are various game modes in Arena of Valor, with "5v5" most commonly referred to as Grand Battle or Ranked Match, played on the Antaris Battlefield and being the most popular. Players compete in these matches which on average last for around 12 – 18 minutes. Players aim to destroy the enemy's turrets on the map and secure objectives such as killing Abyssal Dragon and Dark Slayer, with the victory condition being to destroy the enemy's core.[11]

Black City Arena is a 1v1 game mode with only one lane, two brushes at the left and right side of the horizontal battlefield, an HP pot, one tower, and one core for blue and red.[12]

Shadow Duel is a 3v3 game mode on Flatland Battlefield, using a much smaller map.

Abyssal Clash is a 5v5 game mode where players are given randomly selected heroes. Players may choose to re-roll once and receive a different hero. The game map, Abyss Canyon, only has one lane, with two turrets and a core base connected at either end of the lane. There are certain restrictions which do not appear in the default 5v5 mode: Items may only be purchased before leaving the base or upon death and hero healing at the team base is disabled. There are health regeneration runes that appear next to each turret, which provide heroes with a small regeneration effect.[13]

Hook Wars is one of the arcade game modes. The game map, Treasure Bay, is made up of two large connected vessels. Although this game mode is also 5v5, there are no minions, turrets, or bases in this mode. Each player is able to use a Hook as a special ability, which can grab an enemy on the opposite boat or from long distances. Players aim to capture the Control Zone, located at the center of the map, and hold the zone for a certain duration (until the counter reaches 100%). The capture rate increases with the number of players standing within the zone.[14]

Football Fever is a 3v3, arcade game mode.

Death Match is a 2v2v2v2v2 arcade game mode on a game map known as Death Realm.

Gladiator's Summit is a 5v5, arcade game mode.

Mayhem Mode is a 10v10, arcade game mode.

Duo-Race is a co-op racing mode.

Hero types[edit]

There are 117 heroes in Arena of Valor as of 26 January 2024. Arena of Valor divides the heroes into numerous categories that each play different roles. The most notable difference is the type of damage a hero deals - some heroes deal physical damage, which can be countered by the armor stat, whilst other heroes deal mainly magic damage, which is countered by the magic resistance stat. Some heroes deal both types of damage, and some deal 'true' damage, which cannot be countered by either armor or magic resistance. All heroes are classified as one of six categories, with some heroes overlapping multiple categories.

  • Marksman: Also known as "AD Carry/ADC", marksmen are ranged heroes that usually deal physical damage mostly through their auto attack. This hero type deals sustained damage, and therefore is useful in teamfights in order to reduce the opponent's health. They are also very efficient in taking objectives such as turrets. However, they are often fragile and vulnerable. Examples of marksmen are Violet, Valhein, and Yorn.
  • Mage: Mages are sometimes known as "AP Carry/APC". These heroes deal a high amount of burst magic damage. Some mages are fragile while some mages are more durable depending on the respective itemization. Mages are a mix of ranged heroes, which deal damage from afar, or melee heroes, which deal damage from close distances. Examples of mages are Raz, Krixi, and Zata.
  • Assassin: These are heroes that are designed to deal large amounts of damage quickly, and often do not have much health. Assassins often search for the enemy marksman or mage as well as any other fragile heroes to eliminate quickly. They are also responsible for shutting down enemies that are on a killing spree. They have high mobility and burst damage for focusing valuable enemy targets. Examples of assassins are Murad, Nakroth, and Wukong.
  • Tank: Tanks are heroes that have large amounts of HP and usually build completely defensive to be able to soak damage for the team. As a result, they often deal little damage. However, they often have abilities known as 'crowd control' that allow them to inhibit the movement of the enemy team. In addition to this, they can use these abilities to initiate a teamfight, or to prevent the enemy team from attacking high priority targets such as an ally marksman or mage. Examples of tanks are Grakk, Thane, and Toro.
  • Warrior: Heroes that blend the attributes of damage dealer and tank, combining moderate survivability with respectable damage. Warriors usually have a balanced amount of health, defense, and attack damage, which is a common designation for close-range melee duelists. Thus, they are able to survive long periods of fighting and excel in doing continuous sustained damage. Warriors are all-rounded and tend to be extremely strong in 1v1 scenarios. Examples of warriors are Florentino, Arthur, and Lu Bu.
  • Support: Heroes whose abilities aid the rest of the team by providing healing, buffing allies (such as movement speed buffs), debuffing the enemy team (such as stunning), or a combination of the above. Support heroes are often paired with the marksman in the early laning phase of the game where the support doesn't kill minions but instead focuses on aiding their partner and harassing the enemy heroes. Support heroes usually aid ally marksmen as they are often weaker during the early phase of the game and need assistance in order to survive. Examples of supports are Alice, Annette, and Aya.

Players can purchase items, which make a large impact on the hero stats and playstyle. An example of this is Zephys, a dual warrior/assassin class. He has a passive ability that increases damage reduction against incoming damage based on a proportion of health lost. If only offensive items are bought, he will deal a lot of damage but will have a low amount of health and defense, which impacts survivability. If Zephys purchases a mix of offensive and defensive items, he can take damage for the team while still dealing a noticeable amount of damage. If Zephys buys only defensive items, he can boost his damage reduction passive to its maximum potential, being literally almost impossible to die in most circumstances like a Tank class character, but will deal drastically lower amounts of damage.This kind of playstyle can be applied to all heroes, allowing tanks to act as warriors, mages to act as supports, and vice versa.

History[edit]

Pre-release[edit]

After Tencent fully acquired Riot Games in 2015,[15] Tencent asked them to make a mobile version of League of Legends, as multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games were very rare on mobile at the time, with Vainglory by Super Evil Megacorp (which was formed by ex-Riot Games employees) being the only notable title.[16] Tencent wanted to seize the opportunity to dominate the mobile market because there were not any strong competitors aside from Vainglory.[17] However, Riot Games declined due to mobile not commonly being seen as the platform for competitive games, and claimed that the gameplay of League of Legends could not be replicated on smartphones. Be that as it may, Tencent was still determined to launch a MOBA game on mobile. After receiving the refusal from Riot Games, Lightspeed & Quantum Studios (which would later develop PUBG Mobile under license from Krafton) and TiMi Studios (both of which are Tencent's internal video game development studios) raced to develop a MOBA game that fit the bill, resulting an internal competition.[18]

Lightspeed & Quantum's We MOBA and TiMi's League of Kings (rough translation from 王者联盟 Wángzhě Liánméng) were launched on the same day, on August 18, 2015. A month later, We MOBA was already the third most downloaded mobile game on Apple's iOS worldwide, according to app analytics firm App Annie, while League of Kings was nowhere near We MOBA. League of Kings was then taken down for an overhaul, and was relaunched in October 2015. TiMi Studios used League of Legends as a base model to overhaul League of Kings, resulting in both games having a lot of similarities. TiMi Studios also implemented a 5v5 game mode into League of Kings due to the game previously having poor reception with the 3v3 concept. This time, League of Kings successfully overtook We MOBA and won the internal competition. Tencent relished and invested additional resources into League of Kings to ensure its success.[19][20]

Nevertheless, Riot Games deemed that the design of characters and abilities in League of Kings were "blatantly ripping off the intellectual property of League of Legends" after they discovered how the game was produced, and reportedly brought these concerns to Tencent.[21] Tencent responded that they would change its own game enough to sell as a standalone product with no relation to League of Legends. Despite this, League of Kings had already gained massive popularity in China at this point due to the game being advertised as "mobile version of League of Legends" through social media and word-of-mouth marketing. Tencent felt that it was too late to make huge changes to the game, so they renamed League of Kings (王者联盟 Wángzhě Liánméng) to Honor of Kings (王者荣耀 Wángzhě Róngyào) on November 26, 2015, and it only went through necessary changes. The international release of Honor of Kings was canceled, and the game would have a western twin for markets outside Mainland China which is rebranded and featured different contents, leading to the creation of Arena of Valor, which also served as a response to Riot Games's complaints of "potential intellectual property infringement".[22]

Development[edit]

Arena of Valor was developed by TiMi Studio Group with the same engine and user interface design as Honor of Kings and published by Level Infinite. A subsidiary at Tencent Interactive Entertainment Group, headed under the Tencent Games division. Arena of Valor originally was named Strike of Kings, and was intended to be the identical name to Honor of Kings, but the publishing team thought the name might not be suitable to appeal to the Western audience. Moreover, the difference in content featured in the game made the publishing team decide that a better name is required.[2] Still, Arena of Valor has several alternative names when released in different countries, such as Realm of Valor in Thailand,[23] Liên Quân in Vietnam,[24] Penta Storm in South Korea,[25] and Legendary Showdown in Taiwan and Japan.[26][27]

Garena joined the marketing team as they helped to westernize the atmosphere of the game. The in-game characters have been swapped from characters inspired by Chinese folklore and Chinese mythology, to characters inspired by European folklore and several mythologies from other nations, blending a variety of elements including Lovecraftian horror, steampunk, high fantasy, and sword and sorcery to appeal audiences outside China.

The appearance of in-game characters mostly recycled and revamped designs of characters from Heroes of Newerth, a MOBA game that Garena had acquired from S2 Games.[28] Arena of Valor also included several characters such as Butterfly, Violet, and Mina from Age of Gunslingers, a third-person shooter game that previously was also developed by a division of TiMi Studio Group.[29] Additionally, Arena of Valor has multiple collaborations with other franchises, having crossovers with DC Universe,[30][31][32] Wiro Sableng,[33][34][35] Contra,[36] KFC,[37] Sword Art Online,[38][39] Ultraman,[40] Bleach,[41] One-Punch Man,[42] Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,[43] Sailor Moon[44] and Hunter × Hunter.[45]

TiMi intended to feature characters from the Marvel Universe during the prototype stage of Strike of Kings (before the rebranding to Arena of Valor and collaboration with DC Comics), with the closed beta test of the game under the name of Marvel Super Heroes. The initial game featured some characters from TiMi's intellectual property crossover with Marvel's characters.[46] However, Marvel Entertainment later took back their license, forcing TiMi to stop the development and Tencent Games to shut down the game as they lost the rights to release the game.[47] Subsequently, TiMi Studio Group had to redesign the game, creating the current appearance of Arena of Valor. TiMi then approached DC Comics to include their characters as a replacement to Marvel's characters, while Marvel went a separate way, and collaborated with other video game developer companies to develop their own MOBA, such as Marvel End Time Arena by Smilegate,[48] and Marvel Super War by NetEase.[49]

The soundtrack for Arena of Valor was composed by TiMi Audio Lab in cooperation with different music composers each year, such as Jeff Broadbent in late 2016, Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe in 2017,[50][51] Matthew Carl Earl and Obadiah Brown-Beach in 2018,[52] Russell Brower, Paul Lipson, and Tom Salta in 2019,[53] Yang Lee and Michal Cielecki in 2020,[54] all creating a different atmosphere compared to the original score with Chinese music instruments in Honor of Kings. Arena of Valor also features The Veda language, a constructed fictional language along with its polypersonal descendants, such as Afata, Gandal (the "impure language" of humans), and G'vunna (Zudǝllǝ g’Vunnǝ, the "language from the abyss" of the Lokheim) for different characters from different factions. These languages were created by David J. Peterson (also well known for creating the Dothraki and Valyrian languages in Game of Thrones) to make the game more interesting.[55][56]

Arena of Valor has a wide variety of publishers for different regions. Arena of Valor was first launched in Taiwan on 12 October 2016, by Garena, following a two-week closed beta testing period.[57] On 17 October 2017, Garena launched Arena of Valor in Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, where a majority of the gaming community plays mobile games. Garena decided to combine these three countries in one server. In South Korea, the game was published by Netmarble on 26 April 2017.[58] The game was released in European markets by Level Infinite on 10 August 2017,[59] and was released in North America and Latin America on 19 December 2017.[60] On 28 June 2018, Level Infinite implemented "Asia server" unannounced. This server included Australia, New Zealand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Brunei.[61] In Japan, DeNA cooperated with TiMi to launch Arena of Valor on 30 November 2018.[62]

Nintendo announced a deal with Tencent Games to bring Arena of Valor to the Nintendo Switch for international markets, as well as forming a partnership to ship Nintendo Switch consoles into China. The game was announced to be released for the Nintendo Switch during the September 2017 Nintendo Direct presentation.[63] A closed beta became available for the platform on 28 June 2018, and participants received an in-game skin for one of the characters.[64]

The game was officially launched on the platform on 28 September 2018.[65][66] Speaking to Engadget, Tencent Games revealed the Nintendo Switch port of the game is enhanced and optimized for the platform, taking advantage of the console's processing power and hardware features to implement various changes to the game, such as improved graphics and animations, better lighting, smoother lines, and additional minute details like butterflies. Additionally, several adjustments were made to the game to be playable on a bigger screen with traditional controls, and stats for characters have been reconfigured. Because of these changes, cross-play between the Nintendo Switch and mobile versions of the game is not possible.[67]

Post-release[edit]

TiMi Studios once again faced internal competition. Morefun Studios (which is also another of Tencent's video game development studio) developed and released a mobile MOBA named War Song on January 22, 2018, in an attempt to compete with Arena of Valor.[68] However, War Song did not last long in the end. Instead, the assets of the defunct MOBA were recycled for Chess Rush, an auto battler game, which was released on July 4, 2019.[69]

Arena of Valor was reported to have caused a gradually straining business relationship between Riot Games and Tencent, and the relationship between the two firms became further strained when Tencent used notable League of Legends players to promote Arena of Valor and its esports tournaments. Riot Games's complaints initiated a two-month marketing freeze for Arena of Valor and demanded that Riot Games be given the option to review all marketing plans, including a veto for the use of select celebrity gamers.[70] Nonetheless, Riot Games implied that their relationship with Tencent is still strong, and the conflict between them and their games is only "a bump in the road".[22]

In July 2017, Riot Games filed a lawsuit against Moonton, the developer of the rival game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, for copyright infringement, citing similarities between Mobile Legends and League of Legends.[71][72] The case was initially dismissed in the Central District Court of California in the United States on account of forum non conveniens. Tencent, as Riot's parent company, then filed a new, separate lawsuit on behalf of Riot Games, directly targeting Moonton's CEO, Watson Xu Zhenhua (as he had previously worked in Tencent as one of Tencent's senior employee) in Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court, for violating a law regarding Non-Compete Agreements,[73] which ruled in Tencent's favor in July 2018, awarding Tencent a settlement of $2.9 million (RMB19.4 million).[74][75][76][77]

Riot Games eventually acknowledged the potential of the mobile market for the MOBA genre, and agreed to develop a mobile title for League of Legends.[78] Tencent then temporarily pulled marketing plans for Arena of Valor in Europe and North America in 2019, clearing room for Riot Games's announcement a few months later.[79] Riot Games announced their own mobile MOBA game, League of Legends: Wild Rift on October 16, 2019, which is the 10th anniversary of League of Legends.[80]

In addition, the succession of MOBA genre on mobile inspired the creation of Pokémon UNITE, a Pokémon spin-off game, developed by TiMi Studio as well in a further partnership with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. The game was announced in a Pokémon Presents on June 24, 2020.[81][82]

TiMi partnered with Shengqi Games to re-distribute the Arena of Valor franchise in the Indian market, where Arena of Valor has been suspended from operating earlier in Q4 of 2020 due to unsubstantiated privacy concerns claims through the Indian government. The franchise is branded Clash of Titans, with adjusted terms such as Titans, unlike the original franchises Hero terminology.[83]

TiMi Studio Group decided to no longer extend the license rights of the Arena of Valor franchise to Netmarble & Kakao. Netmarble announced that they'll terminate the service on July 29, 2022; after five years of Game as a Service (GaaS). The termination causes Korea to have no representation in eSports in 2022. The license wasn't extended due to a failure of player retention in South Korea.[84][85]

The mobile app of Arena of Valor was banned in India (along with other Chinese apps) on 2 September 2020 by the government, the move came amid the 2020 China-India skirmish.[86][87]

Esports[edit]

International competition[edit]

Arena of Valor tournaments have been held in numerous regions, with each region having their own local leagues such as Garena Challenger Series Pro League (GCS) in Taiwan,[88] Realm of Valor Pro League (RPL) in Thailand,[89] Arena of Glory - Đấu trường danh vọng (AOG) in Vietnam,[90] Arena of Valor Star League (ASL) in Indonesia,[91] Arena of Valor: Valor Cup (AVC) in Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines,[92] Arena of Valor: Valor Series (AVS) in Europe, North America, and Latin America,[93] and Arena of Valor Japan League (AJL) in Japan.[94]

Arena of Valor also has two annual world championship tournaments; Arena of Valor International Championship (AIC) and Arena of Valor World Cup (AWC). AIC is a tournament where teams from across the world participate to earn profit and glory for their own esports organisation, while AWC is a tournament where teams participate under the banner of their national flag to represent their own country.

The first AIC was held in South Korea from November 23 to November 26, 2017. The event attracted more than 36,000,000 online viewers, breaking mobile game records worldwide and has since become the leading standard of mobile eSports. The game occupying the top positions of mobile game rankings in Asia for months has also received the honor of Google Play's Best of 2017 Game award in Europe.[95] The second AIC tournament was held in Thailand from November 23 to December 16, 2018. The tournament increased the number of competing teams to 16, with teams competing for the title and a proportion of the prize pool worth $600,000 (£460,000).[96] The third AIC tournament was also held in Thailand from November 5 to November 24, 2019. It featured an additional all-new 1v1 competition, where one player represented each team and the winner walked away with $5,000.[97]

The first Arena of Valor World Cup (AWC) tournament was held in Los Angeles, United States, from July 17 to July 28, 2018.[98] A total prize pool of $500,000 made AWC one of the largest mobile eSports tournaments in gaming history. A total of nine regions competed for the grand prize, which includes Taiwan - Hong Kong - Macau, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia - Singapore - Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, North America, Latin America and Europe. Additionally, the tournament host selected three Wildcard teams to participate in AWC.[citation needed] The second AWC tournament was held in Da Nang, Vietnam, from June 27 to July 14, 2019, with the same total prize pool of $500,000.[99][100] The second AWC also marks Japan's first participation in the Arena of Valor international tournament since the game introduced their Japanese server on November 30, 2018.[101][102]

The Arena of Valor World Cup 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[103][104] and was replaced by the one-off Arena of Valor Premier League 2020 (APL 2020).[105]

On August 28, 2021, Level Infinite and TiMi eSports announced the merge of the Honor of Kings World Champion Cup, the world championship of AoV's Chinese counterpart Honor of Kings, with the Arena of Valor World Cup. As a result, the prize pool will be increased dramatically from $500,000 to $10,000,000 from the 2022 edition. The AIC 2021 prize pool has been increased from $500,000 to $1,000,000 and will be increased from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 starting AIC 2022.[citation needed]

Asian Games 2018[edit]

Arena of Valor was part of the Esports demonstration event at the Asian Games 2018 held in Indonesia. Eight countries were able to participate after qualifying from their respective regional qualification, with Indonesia automatically qualifying as host. Unlike other electronic sports events, there is no qualification for Central and West Asia.[106]

Southeast Asian Games 2019[edit]

Arena of Valor was among the game titles included as a medal event at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.[107]

Asian Games 2022[edit]

Arena of Valor is among the eight esports titles determined as medal events for the Asian Games 2022. Tencent eSports and TiMi eSports shared a publication on 5 September 2021 which confirmed the first time usage of the merged version of Honor of Kings with Arena of Valor.[108]

Accolades[edit]

Arena of Valor won the award for "Best Music in a Casual/Social Game" at the 15th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards, whereas its other nomination was for "Best Original Instrumental".[109] It was also nominated for "Original Score – Video Game" at the 2017 Hollywood Music in Media Awards,[110] for "Original Dramatic Score, New IP" at the NAVGTR Awards,[111] for "Best Competitive Game" at the 2018 Golden Joystick Awards,[112][113] and for "Fan Favorite Mobile Game" at the Gamers' Choice Awards.[114] Arena of Valor: Flip the World won the award for "Song/Score - Mobile Video Game" at the 9th Hollywood Music in Media Awards,[115] while the game itself and Honor of Kings 2.0 were nominated for the same category at the 10th Hollywood Music in Media Awards.[116] The game was also nominated for "Best Mobile Sport" at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards,[117] while Honor of Kings 2.0 won the award for "Best Music in a Casual Game" at the 18th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards, whereas its other nomination was for "Best Sound Design in a Casual/Social Game".[118]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Creating a MOBA phenomenon: Arena of Valor". Archived from the original on 2022-08-12. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  2. ^ a b Cowley, Ric (25 July 2017). "Tencent rebrands Western release of mobile MOBA Strike of Kings to Arena of Valor". pocketgamer.biz. Archived from the original on 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  3. ^ Spannbauer, Adam (2018-09-17). "Arena of Valor Revenue Clears $140 Million Outside China". Sensor Tower. Archived from the original on 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  4. ^ "League of Legends and Arena of Valor are among eSports titles at 2018 Asian Games". Tilt Report. Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  5. ^ "Esports at SEA Games 2019: Everything you need to know". ONE Esports. 2019-12-04. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  6. ^ "Arena of Valor and Dota 2 are medal events at the Asian Indoor And Martial Arts Games". ONE Esports. 2020-07-08. Archived from the original on 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  7. ^ Secretary, Rice (2017-12-08). "The Difference Between Arena of Valor (AoV) and League of Legends (LoL)". SAMURAI GAMERS. Archived from the original on 2021-01-23. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  8. ^ "Arena of Valor". Arena of Valor. Archived from the original on 2019-02-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  9. ^ "Tips to Earn Gold". Arena of Valor (AoV) Wiki Guide. Archived from the original on 2019-04-24. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  10. ^ Green (2017-11-18). "Arena of Valor (AoV) - Ranked Match (Game Modes)". SAMURAI GAMERS. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  11. ^ Green (2018-02-20). "Arena of Valor (AoV) - Game Modes Overview (Abyssal Clash, Hook Wars, etc.)". SAMURAI GAMERS. Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  12. ^ "ARENA OF VALOR". www.arenaofvalor.com. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  13. ^ "ARENA OF VALOR". www.arenaofvalor.com. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  14. ^ "Hook Wars Introduction". Arena of Valor. 2018-01-08. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  15. ^ Frank, Allegra (2015-12-16). "Riot Games now owned entirely by Tencent". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2019-04-07. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  16. ^ Henry Reeve (10 November 2014). "Ex-Riot Games Developers Bring Vainglory MOBA to iOS". eTeknix. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  17. ^ Owens, Trevor (2017-07-15). "How Vainglory Can Compete with Honor of Kings". Medium. Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  18. ^ Jao, Nicole (2020-06-22). "Tencent: Dog-eat-dog Gaming Empire". Tech In Asia. Archived from the original on 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  19. ^ Ye, Josh (2021-01-04). "Before 'Honor Of Kings' became the world's most popular game, it was a desperate experiment | The Star". The Star. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  20. ^ Ye, Josh (2021-01-02). "Before Tencent's Honor of Kings went viral, it was a desperate experiment". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  21. ^ Custer, Christopher (2016-07-27). "China top mobile game is a complete League of Legends ripoff". Tech in Asia. Archived from the original on 2021-07-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  22. ^ a b Mickunas, Aaron (2018-08-13). "Riot's relationship with Tencent has reportedly been strained over declining profits and mobile games". dotesports. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  23. ^ "Realm of Valor". rov.in.th. Archived from the original on 2022-05-08. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  24. ^ "Liên Quân | Thắng bại tại kỹ năng". lienquan.garena.vn (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 2022-07-31. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  25. ^ "넷마블 | 모바일게임 - 즐거운 게임세상 넷마블!". www.netmarble.net. Archived from the original on 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  26. ^ "《Garena 傳說對決". moba.garena.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 2020-05-16. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  27. ^ "伝説対決". 伝説対決 - 公式サイト (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2022-11-18. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  28. ^ "Arena of Valor VS Heroes of Newerth - Comparison". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  29. ^ #VKMOBA, V.K (2017-03-03). "刀鋒寶貝、美娜 《槍神紀》動畫PV、角色介紹串燒!! (傳說對訣x槍神紀)". YouTube (in Chinese). Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  30. ^ Angelo, Michael (2017-11-15). "The Dark Knight descends on Arena of Valor | BusinessWorld". BusinessWorld. Archived from the original on 2021-02-07. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  31. ^ "Exclusive Interview: Tencent Talks Superman's Debut In Arena of Valor, In Time For His 80th Anniversary". comicbook.com. 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  32. ^ "Arena of Valor completes DC characters line up". criticalindex.net. 2018-08-05. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  33. ^ Lim, Rendy (2018-07-27). "Wujudkan nuansa lokal, Wiro Sableng hadir di Arena of Valor". Esports ID (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  34. ^ "Wiro Sableng now available in Arena of Valor". The Jakarta Post. 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  35. ^ "Who is Wiro Sableng?". Samurai Gamers. 2018-09-11. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  36. ^ "Garena Launches Elsu Crossover Event for Arena of Valor and Contra: Return". SAMURAI GAMERS. 2018-10-25. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  37. ^ "KFC's Colonel Sanders is now playable in Arena of Valor". ONE Esports. 2020-02-13. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  38. ^ "Arena of Valor x Sword Art Online crossover: First look at Kirito and Asuna". ONE Esports. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  39. ^ "Arena of Valor x Sword Art Online crossover is coming back with skins from the Alicization Arc". ONE Esports. 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  40. ^ "Arena of Valor x Ultraman crossover". ONE Esports. 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  41. ^ Fajar (2021-04-22). "Arena of Valor welcomes back iconic BLEACH characters in the return of the AoV x BLEACH collab". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  42. ^ Rendy (2021-10-25). "Arena of Valor X One-Punch Man Akan Hadir Dalam Perayaan 5th Anniversary". detikinet (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  43. ^ Francis, Haruki (5 May 2022). "Arena of Valor and Demon Slayer Collaboration Is About to Begin". AnimeCorner.me. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  44. ^ "AOV Resmi Umumkan Kolaborasi dengan Sailor Moon!". ggwp.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  45. ^ "Resmi! AOV Umumkan Kolaborasi dengan Anime Hunter X Hunter". ggwp.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  46. ^ #VKMOBA, V.K (2016-09-30). "[CLOSED] Heroes Spotlight | Marvel Super Heroes MOBA 超级战场". YouTube. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  47. ^ Belliandry (September 11, 2017). "Marvel Superheroes turned out not to be included in AoV? This is Garena's Answer!". GGWP.ID (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  48. ^ DG. "Marvel End Time Arena, A MOBA Game with Marvel Superheroes By Smilegate". Dunia Games (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  49. ^ DG (2019-06-14). "A New MOBA Game, Marvel Super War, Is Ready to Compete with Arena of Valor". Dunia Games. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  50. ^ "《Garena傳說對決》漢斯季默 Hans Zimmer 操刀|傳說對決配樂幕後製作介紹 - YouTube". YouTube (in Chinese). Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  51. ^ "2017 G.A.N.G. Best Music in a Casual/Social Game - Realm of Valor/Arena of Valor - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  52. ^ "Hollywood Music In Media Awards Winner - Arena of Valor". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  53. ^ "Arena of Valor Music - Behind The Scene". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  54. ^ "Arena of Valor Music - 2020". Reddit. 2020-12-22. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  55. ^ Imeimei (November 2018). "Announcement on David J. Peterson's Tumblr". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  56. ^ "Ngôn ngữ của Liên Quân được tạo ra như thế nào - Liên Quân". YouTube (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  57. ^ 4Gamers. "Garena《傳說對決》揭開神秘面紗,封測預登活動即日開跑". 4Gamers 官方網站 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2022-11-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  58. ^ "Netmarble preparing to launch Strike of Kings as Penta Storm in Korea". MMO Culture. 2017-03-10. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  59. ^ Joseph (2017-07-25). "A Big Update is Coming: A Letter From the Producer – Game Updates – Arena of Valor Forum". Arena of Valor Forum. Archived from the original on 2018-01-05. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  60. ^ Webster, Andrew (2017-12-18). "Tencent is bringing China's biggest game to the rest of the world". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  61. ^ "New "Asia" Server Added (Includes Australia and New Zealand)". SAMURAI GAMERS. 2018-06-29. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  62. ^ "AoV Japan server pre-registration". Samurai Gamers. 2018-11-06. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  63. ^ McFerran, Damien (2017-09-14). "Free-To-Play MOBA Arena Of Valor Is Fighting Towards Switch". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  64. ^ Doolan, Liam (2018-06-23). "Arena Of Valor Closed Beta Starts On 28th June, Participants Receive In-Game Skin". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  65. ^ Doolan, Liam (2018-08-21). "Free-To-Play MOBA Arena Of Valor Launches On Switch This September". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  66. ^ "Arena of Valor for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details". Nintendo. Archived from the original on 2020-06-27. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  67. ^ Conditt, Jessica (2018-08-23). "'Arena of Valor' is a completely different game on Switch". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  68. ^ "War Song was a 5v5 MOBA game with very good graphics, once considered a competitor to Arena of Valor". gamek.vn (in Vietnamese). 2019-07-05. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  69. ^ "Chess Rush, Tencent's new auto battler, comes out July 4 - Daily Esports". www.dailyesports.gg. 2019-07-02. Archived from the original on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  70. ^ Batchelor, James (2019-06-05). "Tencent reportedly gives up on Arena of Valor". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 2021-01-10. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  71. ^ "Riot Games sues League of Legends copycat". Straatosphere. 2017-07-11. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  72. ^ Mickunas, Aaron (2017-07-10). "Riot is suing a mobile game company for copyright infringement, and it's definitely not hard to see why". Dot eSports. Archived from the original on 2022-11-19. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  73. ^ "Tencent case and risks in non-compete commitments". Law.asia. 2018-12-21. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  74. ^ Mickunas, Aaron (2018-07-18). "Riot Games parent Tencent wins $2.9 million in lawsuit against Moonton CEO". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  75. ^ Lanier, Liz (2018-07-19). "Tencent Wins Lawsuit Over 'League of Legends' Copycat". Variety.
  76. ^ "Mobile Legends Dev Lost Lawsuit To Riot Games / Tencent - Close To USD $3 Million". Pokde.Net. 18 July 2018. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  77. ^ Shah, Riaz (21 July 2018). "Moonton VS Riot Games – The $2.9M Lawsuit Drama". Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  78. ^ "Report: Tencent giving up on Arena of Valor in the West and is now working together with Riot Games to develop League of Legends for mobile". GameDaily.biz. 28 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  79. ^ Gamesforum (2020-11-05). "League of Legends: Wild Rift enters the mobile MOBA arena". Gamesforum. Archived from the original on 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  80. ^ "League of Legends coming to mobile". The Verge. 2019-10-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-30. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  81. ^ Phillips, Tom (2020-06-24). "Pokémon Unite is a new free-to-play MOBA from Tencent". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  82. ^ Desatoff, Sam (2020-07-02). "Pokémon Unite leverages TiMi Studio's pedigree in the MOBA genre". GameDaily.biz. Archived from the original on 2021-02-23. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  83. ^ Ahmed, Wasif (2021-12-14). "Arena of Valor lookalike Clash of Titans launching in India". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  84. ^ "넷마블, 펜타스톰 5년 만에 서비스 종료 결정". m.gameinsight.co.kr (in Korean). 2 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  85. ^ "펜타킬의 저주인가...펜타스톰 for Kakao 5년 마침표". 내외경제TV (in Korean). 2022-05-02. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  86. ^ "Government Bans 118 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 2020-09-02. Archived from the original on 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  87. ^ Yasir, Sameer; Kumar, Hari (2020-09-02). "India Bans 118 Chinese Apps as Indian Soldier Is Killed on Disputed Border". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-09-13. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  88. ^ "AoV GCS Summer 2017 Highlights". YouTube. 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  89. ^ "RoV Pro League 2020 Summer | Grand Final - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  90. ^ "Highlights: Adonis Esports vs Saigon Phantom | Vietnam Arena of Glory Spring 2018 Grand Finals - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-13. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  91. ^ "Match 1 Grand Final ASL 2020 Season 4 - EVOS Esports vs ARCHANGEL - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2022-11-19. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  92. ^ "AoV First Valor Cup details". Samurai Gamers. 2018-03-02. Archived from the original on 2023-03-13. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  93. ^ Paek, Ji-Eun (2019-02-01). "Arena of Valor: Valor Series Season 3". INVEN Global. Archived from the original on 2023-03-13. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  94. ^ "【 伝説対決 -Arena of Valor-】Arena of Valor Japan League 春の陣 決勝戦". YouTube. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  95. ^ "Arena of Valor International Championship (AIC) that was first held in 2017, the event attracted more than 36,000,000 online viewers, breaking mobile game records worldwide and has since become the leading standard of mobile eSports". Gamer Braves. 2017-04-22. Archived from the original on 2022-08-19. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  96. ^ "Arena of Valor announces international championship". Esportsinsider. 2018-10-19. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  97. ^ Ahmed, Wasif (2019-09-18). "Arena of Valor International Championship 2019 to be held in Thailand". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 2023-03-13. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  98. ^ "Arena of Valor brings World Cup 2018 to Los Angeles". GamerBraves. 2018-05-26. Archived from the original on 2022-08-19. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  99. ^ "AoV 2019 World Cup will be held in Vietnam". The Esports Observer. 2019-02-27. Archived from the original on 2020-09-08. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  100. ^ "AWC 2019 will be hosted in Vietnam with US$500,000 prize pool". egg.network. 2019-05-13. Retrieved 2022-11-19.[permanent dead link]
  101. ^ "Arena of Valor World Cup 2019". Game Is Hard. 2019-04-24. Archived from the original on 2022-08-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  102. ^ "Vietnam wins the Arena of Valor World Cup 2019". dotesports.com. 2019-07-15. Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  103. ^ Ahmed, Wasif (2020-04-30). "Arena of Valor World Cup 2020 canceled due to COVID-19". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 2022-09-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  104. ^ "Arena of Valor World Cup 2020 cancelled". www.onlineesports.com. Archived from the original on 2023-01-28. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  105. ^ "14 top teams will battle it out in the Arena Of Valor Premier League 2020". ONE Esports. 2020-05-22. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  106. ^ "AESF Game Result" (PDF). Asian Electronic Sports Federation. 2018-07-11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  107. ^ "Arena of Valor become official game title of 2019 Southeast Asian Games in Philippines". insidethegames.biz. 2019-03-27. Archived from the original on 2023-03-13. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  108. ^ Ahmed, Wasif (2021-11-17). "Tencent to create new version of Arena of Valor for 2022 Asian Games". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  109. ^ "2017 Awards". Game Audio Network Guild. Archived from the original on 2022-11-19. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  110. ^ "Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Full Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. 2017-11-17. Archived from the original on 2019-04-29. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  111. ^ "Winner List for 2017: Mario, Horizon". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. 2018-03-13. Archived from the original on 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  112. ^ Hoggins, Tom (2018-09-24). "Golden Joysticks 2018 nominees announced, voting open now". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2022-01-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  113. ^ Sheridan, Connor (2018-11-16). "Golden Joystick Awards 2018 winners: God of War wins big but Fortnite gets Victory Royale". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 2018-11-16. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  114. ^ Glyer, Mike (2018-11-19). "2018 Gamers' Choice Awards Nominees". File 770. Archived from the original on 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  115. ^ "2018 HMMA WINNERS". Hollywood Music in Media Awards. 2018-11-14. Archived from the original on 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  116. ^ "Hollywood Music In Media Awards Announces Nominees". Shoot. 2019-11-04. Archived from the original on 2020-02-11. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  117. ^ "The winners of 2020". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  118. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (2020-05-06). "'Death Stranding' Sweeps Gaming's G.A.N.G. Awards With Six Wins Including Audio of the Year". Variety.

External links[edit]