Honor of Kings to bring KIC 2025 in Philippines

Honor of Kings to bring KIC 2025 in Philippines

Honor of Kings (HoK) made a big leap in 2025 as Honor of Kings International Championship (KIC) 2025 is set to take in Manila, Philippines this coming November 2025.

This marks the second global HoK event to be hosted in the Philippines this year, following the success of the Invitational Season 3 last February to March.

With a $1 million prize pool and an exclusive in-game hero skin reward for the champions, Honor of Kings seeks to raise the bar for all the global teams, fighting for regional pride.

The tournament will still be using the Global Ban and Pick format, ensuring strategic draft flexibility and less meta stagnation. At 3–3, an “Ultimate Battle” tiebreaker opens up hero pools completely, inviting full creativity and reverse plays.

Moreover, the top three teams from KIC 2025 will carry their regional flags to represent in the Challenger Cup 2025 in China this December 2025.

As the growing HoK community extends far beyond China, Level Infinite committed $15 million to develop seven pro leagues worldwide—including the Philippines Kings League, Malaysia Kings League, Indonesia Kings Laga, Kings Major East, Kings Major West, Wildcard Kings Series, and Brazil HOK Championship—which feed into major international tournaments like KIC.

“We’re committed to investing in the esports ecosystem, and this year alone, we allocated over $10 million to support various initiatives,” said James Yang, Senior Director of Global Esports Center at Level Infinite.

On the other hand, Filipino powerhouses like Blacklist International and Boom Esports will be the expected teams to showcase and put up their Philippines banner in their home turf.

Meanwhile, the “Path to Pro System” is designed to spot and hone new talents at grassroots level through regional qualifiers and local tournaments.