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Manila Bulletin devider Technews devider Honor of Kings PH kicks off 2026 with KIS4, Asian Games, and PKL expansion

Honor of Kings PH kicks off 2026 with KIS4, Asian Games, and PKL expansion

Published Jan 28, 2026 08:54 am
The esports scene in Honor of Kings is fast heating up. Philippine teams competed in the Asian Games 2026 and are now locked in for the Kings Invitational League 2026 Season 4 (KIS4).
Meanwhile, Philippine Kings League (PKL) Spring 2026 are seeing some big changes as well. This includes:
Blacklist International and BOOM Esports will compete at KIS4, starting January 31.
The SIBOL National Qualifier has named Gerald “Tgee” Gelacio as the coach for the Philippine Honor of Kings team in the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.
The PKL expands to 10 teams from 8.
BLCK and BOOM will represent the Philippines in the first HoK Esports event of 2026: KIS4. They will go against the invited teams from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Major East League. KIS4 will take place from January 31 to February 8 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Through the two Filipino teams leading in Team Star Value, both Blacklist International and BOOM Esports were able to select teams to go in their respective groups.
The eight invited teams will first go through a single-round robin, best-of-five, Group Stage to determine seeding. The top two teams of each group will have the ability to select their opponents in the single-elimination, best-of-seven, Knockout Stage.
PKL Spring 2026 expands to 10 teams
The regional Philippine Kings League for 2026 will expand its number of participating teams to ten, up from eight in previous seasons.
The league will comprise six invited teams, with the remaining four slots going to the top teams from the HoK Open Series Split 5. The Open Series runs from January 24 to February 1.
Stay tuned to the official HoK Esports Philippines accounts for the invited teams and organizations.
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