King lost in the first round of the PDC World Championship for the first time in its 2013 edition 2–3 to Dean Winstanley. The match has been described as a classic with both players missing darts to win before Winstanley took the deciding set 6–4. His first final of the year came at the eighth UK Open Qualifier in April, having won seven games including defeats over James Wade, Wes Newton and Robert Thornton, but he was then whitewashed 0–6 by Michael van Gerwen. He was the seventh seed for the UK Open itself. King reached the final of the Austrian Darts Open by beating Joe Cullen 6–0 in the quarter-finals with an average of 103.66 and Steve Beaton 6–5 in the semis. He faced van Gerwen once more in the final and was defeated 3–6. He also played van Gerwen in the third round of the UK Open and was defeated 5–9. King's second European Tour final of the year came in September at the German Darts Masters where he edged past Peter Wright 6–5 in the third round, whitewashed James Wade 6–0 in the quarter-finals and beat Wayne Jones 6–4 in the semis. He faced Steve Beaton and with the final on throw with Beaton 4–3 ahead King incredibly burst his score when on 134 as he hit a treble 20 with his last dart instead of a single to leave 40. Beaton replied by finishing 160 and, even though King fought back to take the match into a deciding leg, he never had a dart for the title as Beaton won 6–5. King could not replicate his performances at the World Grand Prix from last year as he was defeated 2–0 in sets by Wayne Jones in the first round.