Games

INTERVIEW – Honor of Kings Game Design Lead shares vision behind HoK Plus update, team-based focus, and future global ambitions

BBG News

Story Highlights

  • Honor of Kings Plus rolls out voice-to-text, Flowborn, and a revamped reward system.
  • Dean Huang shares how player feedback drove key gameplay and balance updates.
  • Exciting global collaborations and new features are planned for later this year.

The game “King of Honors” remains unrivaled in the realm of mobile Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games, and its latest significant update, titled “King of Honors Plus,” represents an audacious move to further establish its competitive foundations while ensuring it stays engaging, balanced, and innovative. Our team at “Phone Gaming” was fortunate enough to engage in a conversation with Dean Huang, the Game Design Lead for King of Honors, who is not only a seasoned game designer but also an avid gamer himself.

During our conversation, Dean explained the principles he follows in designing Honor of Kings Plus, the reasoning behind it, the improvements made underneath, as well as the core values that are guiding its ongoing development on a global scale.

Staying on top with bold updates and community-driven evolution

Dean explained that since “Honor of Kings” is a live-service game, it’s essential for us not to stay stagnant. To keep our standing as the world’s most played MOBA, we must consistently introduce new content and make necessary adjustments. In other words, he was saying:

“To remain at the top, ‘Honor of Kings’ can’t rest on its laurels. We need to keep updating and tweaking it to offer fresh experiences.”

This latest update comes packed with numerous innovative additions such as voice recognition for text input, an enhanced version of Honor Pass, Flowborn, a revamped reward system using stars, and many more significant upgrades.

As per Dean’s statements, our aim is to keep players captivated and involved, appreciating their input – whether it’s praise or constructive criticism – so that we can consistently enhance and refine the gaming experience without undermining its competitive aspect or equilibrium.

Encouraging teamwork without rewarding selfish play

In essence, Honor of Kings is primarily a cooperative game, and the recently implemented system that grants rewards to both winners and losers has sparked questions about whether it might inadvertently encourage individualistic play. However, Dean directly addressed this issue by stating: “A player who excels in our eyes does not exhibit selfish behavior or disrupt team synergy.

The recognition is tied to an overall team performance evaluation, promoting the idea that those who excel in teamwork, not just individuals with standout statistics, will be recognized.

Voice-to-text makes communication more inclusive and global

One fantastic aspect of the recent update is the voice-to-text feature. This tool makes communication more fluid, inclusive, and effortless, allowing gamers from all corners of the globe to forge connections.” “Our goal is to eliminate boundaries and foster friendships across geographies and languages.”

As a gamer, I can assure you that we’ve got your back regarding potential issues such as explicit language. We’ve got a robust moderation system set up, leveraging our existing text filters and even adapting them for voice-to-text interactions.

Gameplay balancing changes inspired by deep community feedback

As a devoted enthusiast, I found myself zeroing in on updates centered around enhancing gameplay mechanics. This included adjustments like eliminating super minions once all lanes collapse, revamping river creatures, and fine-tuning minion waves. Dean himself affirmed that the bulk of these improvements were fueled by insights gleaned from our dedicated community.

As a dedicated fan, I’d like to share some exciting updates we’ve made in our beloved game, Clash Lane. To heighten the focus on the core gameplay, we’ve decided to make the Space Spirit the primary target and boost its respawn rate. This way, players can engage with it more frequently. In parallel, we’ve tweaked the Farm Lane to alleviate the pressure caused by Firehawk. Now, an additional minion is added to each wave in the Mid Lane, encouraging traditional lane gameplay instead of excessive roaming.

In order to enhance the game’s balance and provide more chances for a team to make a comeback, we’ve decided to eliminate the super minions across all lanes.

Low-end device optimization is a long-term priority

In this update, we’ve created several visual effect options for varying device capabilities and even omitted some animations to enhance performance. Dean finds these hardware constraints not as limitations, but as chances to innovate. He’s thrilled about the prospect of continually enhancing the gaming experience on less powerful devices.

From competitive gamer to thoughtful designer

Dean, with his extensive background in competitive gaming, having participated in Hearthstone and Warcraft III competitions, remarked, “It is only through immersing oneself in the true ups and downs of gaming that one can truly grasp where to channel design efforts.

To truly understand balance, fairness, and long-term enjoyability in a game, an exceptional designer must not only have passion for playing but also possess the necessary skills that come with it.

Anticipating global aspirations and new partnerships

When we inquired about what he was looking forward to for Honour of Kings beyond this update, Dean hinted at some fascinating advancements. He mentioned that they plan to keep pushing the boundaries of the genre by utilizing cutting-edge technology in mobile devices, creating fresh gameplay options, and collaborating with renowned global brands and intellectual properties.

In addition, Dean Huang confirmed that fresh partnerships are in the pipeline before the year concludes, which is fantastic news for fans who can’t wait to see what’s coming next. The interview provided valuable insights. Specifically, Dean Huang and his team are developing a worldwide Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game that is consistently being improved, not just with superficial modifications, but with significant alterations. They are ensuring the game maintains its original essence and values while it evolves.

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2025-06-29 15:11

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