Have you ever played or heard of Arena of Valor? To be honest, I hadn’t heard much Arena of Valor until I saw Bowkylion’s cosplay of this character named Liliana, the assassin mage hero who is capable of attacking her enemies in human and fox form. I had stumbled upon this cosplay through social media and had to do a double take because of the photo editing done to it. At a quick glance the image resembles a digital art drawing or an official game wallpaper. However, upon closer examination, it becomes evident that the image features a live person – a cosplayer.
Upon some digging, Arena of Valor closely resembles the League of Legend’s game. Why? Because it’s developed by TiMi Studios, a subsidiary of Tencent Games, one of the premier gaming companies globally and also owner of League of Legends. Arena of Valor (AoV) as an international adaptation of their earlier success, Honor of Kings, which debuted in 2015 and a highly acclaimed and widely played MOBA in China. Within a remarkably brief span of less than two years after its launch, Honor of Kings skyrocketed to become the highest-grossing mobile game worldwide, boasting a staggering 160 million monthly active users. Fueled by this immense popularity, Tencent opted to adapt the game for a global audience, and so Arena of Valor made its debut to the world.
What do you think of this cosplay and the game it’s advertising?
