Riot Games has officially unveiled the anthem of the 2023 League of Legends World Championship, ‘GODS’, performed by NewJeans. The music video centers around the story of 2022 world champion Kim ‘Deft’ Hyuk-kyu.
The animated music video, posted on League of Legends’ YouTube channel on October 4, tells the story of LCK star Deft, from being in the same high school class as Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok, to falling short at multiple Worlds events, all the way to being part of the DRX squad that lifted the world championship title in 2022 after beating T1 in the final.
In addition to Deft, who is attending Worlds 2023 with Dplus, and Faker, other players featured in the music video include Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson, Heo ‘PawN’ Won-seok, Choi ‘Doran’ Hyeon-joon, and Deft’s former DRX teammates.
Titled ‘GODS’, the song marks Riot Games’ first collaboration with a K-pop group, NewJeans, which debuted in 2022 with the single ‘Attention’. Riot Games principal composer Sebastien Najand and Alex Seaver of Mako co-wrote ‘GODS’, the 10th anthem in Worlds history.
The first official song of a League of Legends World Championship came out in 2014, when Riot teamed up with Imagine Dragons on ‘Warriors’. Since then, the release of a Worlds anthem has become an event in itself, with Riot collaborating with different musical artists over the years.
“The Worlds Anthem is the rallying cry for our community every year, and we’re so excited to partner with NewJeans to deliver this incredible moment,” said Carrie Dunn, Global Head of Creative, Esports at Riot Games.
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“Between Worlds taking place in Korea and NewJeans’ meteoric rise, this partnership felt fated as a true cultural celebration. ‘GODS’ juxtaposes epic and intense production elements with NewJeans’ beautiful and powerful vocals – conveying both the grind and the glory that awaits our players at Worlds.”
NewJeans is expected to perform the song live before the 2023 Worlds grand final, scheduled for November 19 at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
“It was a new experience for all of us,” the K-pop group said last month. “It was fun to try a new genre and sound. Through this collaboration, we are happy to present a song that incorporates both NewJeans’ and League of Legends’ unique colors. We hope it brings you a new sense of empowerment!”
Worlds 2023 will kick off on October 10 with the Play-In Stage, live from the LoL Park, in Seoul. The final spot at the showpiece tournament will be decided on October 9 in the Worlds Qualifying Series, a best-of-five clash between Golden Guardians and Team BDS.
League of Legends fans can already stream ‘GODS’ on various streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
