Honor of Kings will apply Global Ban&Pick system to all esports events

Honor of Kings has announced that will implement its Global Ban&Pick system. into the game’s esports ecosystem for the 2025 season. The third season of the Honor of Kings Invitational y all other tournaments will include this featurewhose objective is to “improve the competitiveness” of the games.

First introduced in 2018 by the King Pro League (the Chinese Honor of Kings league), the Global Ban&Pick system is designed to showcase a wide variety of playable characters during competitive matches. The system means that a character can only be selected once per match series. Each team has a total of four bans to use before each match begins.

In a best-of-seven series where the match is tied at 3-3, the “Ultimate Battle” format will take place. This is where all ban restrictions and global picks are lifted, allowing teams to choose previously banned and picked characters.

Fans of other esports may notice that this system is similar to League of Legends’ new Fearless Draft mode, which is being implemented in Riot Games’ top leagues for its first 2025 split.

Honor of Kings is an industry pioneer in implementing Global Ban&Pick, and has successfully implemented it in over 8,500 matches. I can’t wait to see the incredible plays and creativity our players bring to the stage.

James Yang, Senior Director of Level Infinite Global Esports Center, Tencent Games

In addition to sharing news about the Global Ban&Pick system, Honor of Kings revealed that the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 will take place at SM City North EDSA in Manila, Philippines. The competition will begin on February 21 and will see 12 teams compete for a share of the $300,000 prize money.

As part of its grassroots esports initiatives, the Honor of Kings Open Series is also returning in 2025. Amateur teams will have the opportunity to compete in regional leagues that offer opportunities to compete in global events. The Open Series for Europe, Asia and the Americas will run from January through April.

2025 will be a busy year for Honor of Kings esports. In October 2024, the publisher, Level Infinite, unveiled the roadmap which includes a mid-season event to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.