Tim Cook materializes at mobile games tournament in China

Tim Cook is in China again, where he is reportedly participating in an international political and economic forum hosted by the Chinese government.

If he is indeed going to the 10th meeting of the Belt and Road Initiative (alongside world leaders and heads of state), the Apple CEO has taken a detour that no other CEO has taken this that day: a trip to a local mobile gaming tournament (via 9to5Mac).

According to a Bloomberg report, Tim Cook showed up at a gaming tournament in China, and it’s no wonder: mobile games are one of the App Store’s biggest moneymakers. He thanked the players who were competing for the top prize of Honor of Kings, a hugely popular game in China with more than 100 million daily active users. It’s so popular that some even name their babies after characters from the game.

Honor of Kings and its Arena of Valor variant have been cited as the highest-grossing mobile game of all time. In it, the player controls a character with a particular set of abilities that help them kill non-player characters and opponents. This is how you gain essential experience points (XP) and gold. With experience points, players can improve and evolve their characters’ abilities and become more effective. Gold can be used to purchase items in the Shop to modify specific character attributes depending on the item purchased.

The CEO greeted and made brief remarks to shoppers and staff during a surprise visit to Apple’s Taikoo Li store in Chengdu.