The 4.0 Heroes of Newerth patch will come to China first, despite still being in beta

Tencent held a global press conference in Singapore today for Heroes of Newerth (HON), the S2 Games-developed multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game. The hour-long event revealed information on the game’s closed beta in China, as well as future development plans.

Important points from the announcement:

-China will start its official closed beta on August 20.
-The next major patch for HON, version 4.0, will be available in China first.
-There will only be one server. As a comparison, League of Legends in China has 26.
-The game’s spectator system will be redone.
-60 heroes will be available initially during the closed beta. One new hero will be added each week.
-Heroes from Dota will be free and unlocked based on the player’s level. The other heroes must be unlocked with gold coins.
-Similar to League of Legends, gold coins will be given after each match. Over two-thirds of the game’s skins can be bought with gold coins.
-Players who participated in a previous Chinese beta test will receive an account with all heroes unlocked.
-Gaming organization World Elite will participate in the Heroes of Newerth World Finals next year in Thailand (scheduled for March 2015).

As both the Chinese operator of League of Legends and parent company of Riot Games, it’s interesting to see Tencent push another MOBA game in China. Alongside League, the company also has Smite, Battle of the Gods, and now Heroes of Newerth in its MOBA arsenal. How many of those weapons will be successful, however, is another story.

(via 17173)

See more: