Mobile game ‘Honour of Kings’ spawns new celebrity TV show

BEIJING: A massively successful mobile game has spawned a celebrity TV show starring the likes of actress Angelababy.

“Kings Attack” is a new celebrity game show that has just debuted on video-streaming service Tencent Video. The format is lifted directly from “Honour of Kings,” a mobile battle arena game with more than 200 million registered players operated by the gaming division of internet giant Tencent.

Thanks to the game’s extensive fan base and an A-list cast featuring actresses Angelababy and Lin Chi-ling, the show has already gained 220 million views.

In the show, Angelababy was seen dressed as Daji the foxdemon sorceress.

Emulating the video game, “Kings Attack” pits two teams of five contestants against each other to battle in arenas made from movie sets. In each match, the two teams scramble to destroy the crystal at the heart of their opponents’ fortified base, assisted by minions who can be killed for gold.

To amplify the video game feel, magic effects and laser blasts are added in post-production, and during fights, graphically rendered health bars float above players’ heads, tracking their life as they aim to hit sensors on their opponents’ bodies. A mini map shows the real-time location of each player.

The star-studded roster of celebrity contestants includes Ming Xi, the Chinese model who famously tripped on the runway at the recent Victoria’s Secret fashion show in Shanghai, and Zhang Dada, host of the singing competition “The Coming One.”

Each player is costumed in the familiar attire of one of the characters from the game, and even gains some of the character’s superpowers.

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