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

Honor of Kings has announced it 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 and all other tournaments will include the feature which aims to ‘enhance the competitiveness’ of matches.

First introduced in 2018 by the King Pro League (Honor of Kings’ Chinese league), the Global Ban&Pick system is designed to showcase a wide variety of playable characters during competitive matches.

The system means 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 game is tied at 3-3, the ‘Ultimate Battle’ format will take place. This is where all Global Ban&Pick restrictions are lifted, enabling teams to pick previously banned and picked characters.

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

“Honor of Kings is the pioneer in the industry to implement the Global Ban&Pick, and has successfully implemented it in more than 8,500 matches,” noted James Yang, Senior Director of Level Infinite Global Esports Center, Tencent Games.

“I can’t wait to see the incredible plays and creativity our players bring to the stage.”

Alongside sharing news on the Global Ban&Pick system, Honor of Kings revealed Season 3 of the Honor of Kings Invitational will take place at SM City North EDSA in Manila, Philippines.

The competition begins on February 21st and will see 12 teams compete for a share of a $300,000 (~£244,091) prize pool.

As part of its grassroots esports initiatives, the Honor of Kings Open Series is also returning in 2025. Amateur teams will have a chance to compete for opportunities to compete in regional leagues which offer chances to compete in global events.

The Open Series for Europe, Asia, and the Americas will run from January until April.

2025 is set to be a busy year for Honor of Kings esports. In October 2024, the game’s publisher Level Infinite unveiled the roadmap that includes a mid-season event taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.