KPL taps into AI amid robust expansion of China's gaming market

The King Pro League (KPL) has begun exploring the application of artificial intelligence (AI), combining it with human insight to enhance esports teams' competitive strength, said Cheng Huang, head of KPL, Honor of Kings Esports. Huang added KPL is working with clubs to use AI to simulate specific combat scenarios and the ban-pick phase, a pre-match phase when teams take turns banning and selecting characters to gain a strategic advantage.

Huang also voiced optimism that AI could be "very helpful" for building KPL's future training and competition systems.

The KPL is the official professional esports league for Honor of Kings.

Official data show the game's daily active users in the Chinese server have surpassed 139 million, while its global monthly active users have exceeded 260 million.

With the upcoming 2026 Asian Games and the Olympics, Huang said he hopes more people will be able to enjoy esports and that there will be more accessible ways to watch tournaments, allowing the public to better appreciate the appeal of esports.

Honor of Kings is holding a 17-day carnival in Shenzhen as part of its 10-year anniversary celebrations. The event features cosplayer parades, themed light shows and robot interactions. Local authorities in Shenzhen also launched consumption subsidies totaling 5 million yuan (nearly $715,000).

Latest data shows China's domestic game market achieved sales revenue of 350.79 billion yuan (nearly $50 billion) in 2025, marking a 7.68 percent year-on-year increase. The user base expanded to 683 million, up 1.35 percent year-on-year, with both metrics reaching historic highs.

Executive Producer: Zhang Jingwen

Producer: Yang Sha

Director: Lu Wei

Editor: Chen Qingxuan

Videographer: Zhao Wenting

Cover Image Designer: Pei Zihan