Tencent’s Honor of Kings was first introduced to gamers in 2015, quickly taking the multiplayer online battle arena universe by storm. A year later, the title had more than 50 million daily active users and more than 200 million registered users.

Then, in May 2017, it became the highest-grossing mobile game in the world. Three years later, it continues to expand and garner acclaim, and in January of this year Unisonar released Honor of Kings Original Game Soundtrack, Vol. 1 for the first time internationally. And now? Honor of Kings 2.0 is nominated for a G.A.N.G Award for Best Music in a Casual Game.

Since the music for the Honor of Kings continues to be highlighted, we decided to speak with Hongfei Zhao, who is the audio lead of TiMi Studios Audio Center and served as the music director for the game. Some of his other titles include Kingdom Craft, Saint Seiya, Arena of Valor, Monster Hunter OL, and Moonlight Blade. In the exclusive Q&A below, Zhao pulls back the curtain on the process for creating the Honor of Kings music.

Hongfei Zhao

Roarbots: Congratulations on the recent GANG award nomination for Best Music in a Casual Game for Honor of Kings 2.0. Why do you think audiences have liked this music so much?

Hongfei Zhao: We created a new series of music for Xishi, a new hero in our massive update to Honor of Kings (we call it Honor of Kings 2.0). This music stands out from the previous compositions. Overall, it is more ethereal and magical and offers a different, romantic feeling when presented in the game.

Roarbots: What are the biggest differences, musically, between Honor of Kings and Honor of Kings 2.0?

Zhao: Our original compositions emphasized the game’s sense of combat, rhythm, and intense fighting. We used a lot of orchestral music, a large number of percussion instruments with the intent to convey the epic nature of the game’s battles. The update is more elegant. We sought to create a great sense of space [that is] more ethereal and romantic. We sought to create a more youthful, feminine sound to match the hero herself. We wanted beautiful, natural and fresh sounds. It was not only the music that changed, the art team featured more details also.

Roarbots: With future updates to Honor of Kings, is there another genre of music you would like to see added in the game?

Zhao: Thematically, we’ve created what we call an Asian fantasy epic and actually have a framework that gives us the opportunity to unite different music styles. We design a variety of music styles according to different worlds and different heroes in the game. So, as we update the game, new characters and components of the game will offer music that fits with their own individual themes.

Roarbots: The Honor of Kings original soundtrack was just released and consists of 16 original tracks. Are there plans to release a Volume 2 of the score and if so, how will it be different than Volume 1?

Zhao: We don’t have anything to announce at this time, but Unisonar has been a great partner and we’d like to continue to work with them.

Honor of Kings album art

Roarbots: There are many different composers that contribute to the game’s score. Are you going to be adding any new composers for future installments?

Zhao: We’ll continue to work with talented composers from around the world. Honor of Kings has such an amazing, passionate audience of players to share beautiful music with in the game.

Roarbots: Honor of Kings is a 5-versus-5 multiplayer game. If you were to add a sixth player or take one out how would that affect the score?

Zhao: Interesting question. The rhythm of the game is our primary focus. We’ve spent years iterating for 5v5 games and designed interactive music to match the music rhythm completely with the feel of a 5v5 match. If it was 4v4, we would likely need to adjust a lot! It would need a lighter sound. And if you added two more players to the fight, there would be a much more intense combat, which would need music to match.

Roarbots: There are hours and hours of music for Honor of Kings. How did you decide which tracks were going on the soundtrack?

Zhao: Is it the top sound quality? Top melody? Highest industrial quality? When these are met, the track can be considered for the soundtrack.

Roarbots: The Honor of Kings soundtrack was released internationally. What are you hoping to bring to international audiences? Is the goal for people who aren’t familiar with the game to now discover it through the music?

Zhao: This soundtrack is not just music but also an understanding of music by Asian musicians. It mirrors the developmental state of Asian music. Music knows no boundaries. We want to use music to communicate with a global audience, so even if you don’t know, don’t play, or don’t like Honor of Kings, you can still appreciate the concept of an Asian fantasy epic. We hope our music, our melodies, and design ideas can last.

Roarbots: Besides China, in what other territories have you found the score really resonates?

Zhao: The composers of Honor of Kings come from all over the world, including the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and China. Good music breaks across borders. Apart from the creative use of music and musical instruments, all the production is carried out in accordance with the highest-standard industry production process of our time, and most of our mixing engineers are from the United States.

Quite a number of international awards and nominations also prove that listeners in North America, Europe, and Asia can appreciate and understand our music. In the future, we will output more music so listeners from all over the world can feel the unique charm of an Asian fantasy epic music style.