Honor of Kings World has finally shown its true colors when it comes to monetization — skills, hero appearances, and costumes sold as three separate revenue streams, with characters locked behind a gacha system. Tencent essentially told players: every cent in your wallet has already been allocated.
According to leaks from test players on Tieba (China's Reddit-like forum), it's been essentially confirmed that hero acquisition in Honor of Kings World will rely on a gacha card pool, though there's no constellation/dupe system for now. The game's paid content is divided into three pillars: first, "Refinement" — essentially hero skills that the protagonist character can equip; second, "Transformation" — allowing your character to take on other heroes' appearances, further split into original-skin looks and premium skin looks; third, "Costumes" — simple outfit changes without transforming into other heroes. The core controversy centers on heroes being gacha-only, with players on Tieba and Bilibili collectively slamming the developers. Notably, most systems are already locked in for this test phase, meaning the first official test isn't far off.
The comment section hit the nail on the head: "This is literally selling body parts" — skills and appearances are split into separate purchasable items, effectively dismembering a complete character and pricing each piece individually. Players dubbed this "butcher-shop monetization." One player asked whether you could use one hero's appearance with another hero's skill, but others clarified that each skill set is locked to its corresponding hero or skin. The real trigger for the outrage, however, was that a hero's base appearance — previously unlocked for free after defeating a boss — now costs 3,200 "Liver Coins" (an in-game premium-ish currency similar to Primogems in Genshin Impact), essentially converting free content into paid content.
Commenters drew comparisons to Tower of Fantasy and the Korean title Gran Saga, noting that the "protagonist equipping different weapon modules" design isn't inherently new. The real problem is that Honor of Kings World is a spin-off of an existing IP — taking beloved heroes from the original game and chopping them into separately-sold pieces creates a much bigger backlash than if this were a brand-new franchise. One commenter sarcastically suggested: "Let's be conservative — I propose selling the skill VFX from skins as a separate item too", mocking how much further Tencent could theoretically unbundle their content. There was also debate about whether underage players — reportedly the game's core demographic — could afford this spending model, though defenders pointed out the currency is earnable in-game and prices aren't unreasonable compared to competitors.
Floor 13 delivered the verdict: "When they really go all-in, it has to be Tencent — absolutely ruthless, THIS is the Tencent we know." Floor 19 wrapped it up with biting sarcasm: "Without any way to purchase with regular currency, this monetization model is really designed to make sure players don't overcrowd the servers, huh?" Judging by the community reaction, this triple-stream monetization combined with the IP nostalgia gap has already crucified the system in the court of public opinion before it even officially launches. The final judgment will ultimately depend on the actual pricing and grind requirements at first test.
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