Tencent’s blockbuster game loses top spot to worryingly similar rival
Hong Kong — Honour of Kings, the blockbuster game from Tencent Holdings, lost the top spot in China’s iOS store to a rival, uncannily similar to the world’s hottest PC title. The new game from NetEase, which translates roughly to "survival in the wilderness", took the top spot on November 4, according to researcher App Annie. It features similar game-play to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), including parachuting 100 players onto an island, having them scavenge for armour and weapons before a battle to the death. Honour of Kings spent almost a year as the top grossing game on Apple’s China store as players hacked and slashed, usually in teams, through a battle arena to take down the enemy. Now they are flocking to Hunger Games-like shooter games. The success of the new NetEase title comes as PUBG, which is published by Bluehole, faces a tough time getting licensed in China as regulators discourage survival-themed games. "Survival-themed games might become the biggest revenue dri...
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