HONG KONG, June 8 Reuters China39;s Tencent Holdings said on Wednesday that it will release its flagship mobile game Honor of Kings globally by the end of the year as the domestic internet giant pivots to the international gaming market.

The Shenzhenbased company39;s multiplayer action game, played mostly in China, has been consistently its most profitable, raking in 10 billion in revenue between its 2015 launch and September last year, according to data firm Sensor Tower.

Tencent39;s international launch of the topgrossing game reflects the company39;s focus on expanding globally because the domestic market has become fiercely competitive and bruised by a harsh regulatory crackdown.

China39;s gaming regulator has not granted any new game licences to Tencent in China since last June. The latest batch of 60 game licences issued on Tuesday did not include Tencent, which is the world39;s largest gaming company.

Tencent in May reported that its domestic revenue dropped 1 in the first quarter while international revenue rose 4.

Honor of Kings, which has more than 95 of its users in China, ranked as the world39;s topgrossing game in April with more than 274 million in player spending, up 6.2 from a year earlier, according to Sensor Tower.

The company had in 2016 launched an international adaptation of Honor of Kings called Arena of Valor that was not a major success, but this time it will release the same game played in China.

The international version will be launched…