Chinese tournament organiser Hero Esports has announced an Honor of Kings (HOK) tournament for the inaugural edition of the Asian Champions League (ACL).
The competition will see 12 out of 18 teams from the King Pro League (KPL), HOK’s highest league ecosystem, fight for the title and a share of its $200,000 (~£161,182) prize pool.
The ACL Honor of Kings tournament will kick off on May 5th and will be divided into three stages: Qualifiers, the Knockout Stage and the Finals. All matches will be played in Shanghai, China.
The qualifiers will take place on May 5th-6th and May 13th. Teams from KPL’s Group B as well as teams ranked A5 and A6 from the KPL Spring Round 3 will be placed into a single-elimination bracket to determine two teams advancing to the Knockout Stage. Matches will be best-of-five (BO5), except the last series, which will be best-of-seven (BO7).
The winning team from the qualifier will then join the KPL Spring’s third to fifth seeds in the Knockout stage to determine one finalist on May 14th and May 16th
The KPL Grand Finals will then see the winners from the Knockout stage go up against the KPL Spring runner-up on May 18th in one last BO7 series.
According to a release, the KPL 2025 Spring champions will gain direct access to the Honor of Kings Esports World Cup tournament, which will be hosted later this year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Last year, Honor of Kings’ Esports World Cup tournament made headlines when it announced a $3,050,000 (~£2,455,860) prize pool. The winners, KPL Dream Team, earned $1m (~£805,200).
What is the Asian Champions League?
Announced in September 2024, the Asian Champions League is a new competition launched by Hero Esports and run by the Asia Champions League Foundation. The event’s goal is to become a “benchmark for cloud-based, virtual, and immersive sporting tournaments.”
Aside from Honor of Kings, the ACL has already announced several other game titles, such as Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, Teamfight Tactics, Delta Force, and Crossfire. The event has a total prize pool of $2m (~£1.6m).
Founded in 2016, Hero Esports (previously known as VSPO) is the biggest tournament operator in Asia. Headquartered in Shanghai, the company has worked closely on global esports competitions such as the Olympic Esports Week, the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and the Esports World Cup.
