Why were the 11th anniversary celebration rewards so stingy and the cultural and creative series canceled?

The 11th anniversary update has come to an end. It seems unlikely any new content will be added. The rewards are clearly listed: 25 Rose Hearts, 10 Treasure Hunt Tickets, one regular epic item, and one anniversary legendary limited item. The top three items returning, based on the voting results, will be distributed. Doesn't that feel disappointing? Dull and boring. A long-awaited celebration, with limited-time events and promotional displays, is far inferior to the Spring Festival and summer events. Previously, they would at least offer surprises, such as limited-time in-game currency, released in batches. But in 2026, it's all released at once! Netizens have one word for the official team: stingy!

Three consecutive years of launching cultural and creative series

Without comparison, there's no harm done. Remember the 10th anniversary celebration? The lineup was amazing, practically the entire season was a welfare version, with a limited-time point shop open early, and the Lord of the Mysteries gifting Xi Shi's Dream Weaver skin. Of course, everyone had the right not to choose the personalized gift pack and could switch to other rewards. It wasn't until the 10th anniversary celebration that it truly became a festival extravaganza. The Sanxingdui Museum collaboration, new skins for many popular heroes were given away, Hou Yi got the Divine Tree Reaching the Heavens, and Nuwa unveiled the myriad spirits. One legendary skin paired with one epic skin. Including Yang Jian and Shao Siyuan, only two skins in the entire set required real money to purchase. The remaining limited-time points were undoubtedly the best time to exchange for points for treasure hunt tickets.

How about this year? It's really outrageous. In the past, the anniversary celebrations were carefully planned, with much thought and effort put into creating a theme to commemorate each year. The cultural and creative products were outstanding. The ninth anniversary celebration had "Plants and Trees Have Spirits, Life Never Ends", which revolved around the theme of plants and nature, and launched Sang Qiming Wild Artemisia, Ai Lin Mulberry by the Roadside, and Wang Zhaojun Azalea Guest. The eighth anniversary celebration was named Gift of Time, with Zhou Shen singing the theme song, Agudo leading the way, and Rivers Have Spirits. At that time, the reward quality was not upgraded and was kept at the epic quality. They found a niche character and used nature and river ecology to promote the protection of natural resources, which was of great significance. The merchandise sales were Zhen Ji's Supreme Beauty: Sparrow Dance and Xi Shi's Supreme Beauty: Carp Song.

Happy birthday, goodbye

These two anniversary celebrations alone have witnessed the transformation and growth of Honor of Kings. The first birthday celebration showed how the game upgraded, caught up with aesthetics, and highlighted its status in the mobile game industry. The tenth anniversary celebration reached another peak. However, with the eleventh anniversary celebration, it seems like everything started from scratch. There are no series of products. They just put up a birthday poster and let everyone do whatever they want. After receiving the rewards, please go back to ranked matches to climb the ranks.

Image source: Internet