“Legends Never Die”, the theme song of the 2017 League of Legends (LoL) World Championship, which sparked an e-sports craze last year, will be performed at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Feb. 4. This is a part of “League of Legends: Music of Runeterra,” an orchestral performance inspired by the universe of LoL. The performance will feature songs dedicated to characters in the game.
According to the game industry on Jan. 23, game companies are increasingly incorporating music business into their strategies by leveraging their Intellectual Property. This move aims to enhance user engagement and loyalty by enabling them to experience the game beyond the game itself through music content that relates to the game’s characters and in-game story settings.
Riot Games is one of the most active music companies in the gaming industry. It releases a new theme song whenever it hosts the LoL World Championship. Last year, when the event was held in South Korea, they released a song called “GODS,” performed by K-pop idol New Jeans. “GODS” was composed by Alex Seaver, who has worked on many LoL World Championship theme songs, including “Legends Never Die.
“GODS” received an overwhelming response upon its release. Within a day of its release, it was played 2.6 million times on streaming service Spotify, and the “GODS” music video garnered over 7.8 million views on YouTube in 24 hours, setting a new record for the most first-day views for a LoL World Championship theme song video. As of today, the “GODS” music video has accumulated over 61.33 million views on YouTube.
Riot Games is also a leader in the field of “virtual artists” featuring game characters. After creating the virtual girl group “K/DA” in 2018, the company unveiled “Heartsteel,” a virtual boy group featuring six LoL characters, in October last year. The characters are voiced by famous singers such as Baekhyun of the group EXO.
