Each year, Riot releases a League of Legends World Championship anthem. Last year, that honour went to Lil Nas X, and now rumours are afloat that one famous kpop group could be the ones to participate in 2023.
The 2023 League of Legends World Championship is inching closer and closer, with multiple teams already qualified for the biggest esports event of the year. This tournament is more exciting than usual even with a whole new format, but one thing won't change from previous years, and that is the LoL Worlds anthem.
There have been rumours about a K/DA comeback in 2023, since it's been 5-years since the group's debut, but also rumors surrounding the artists for the anthem itself. So, who could we, potentially, expect to see at the LoL Worlds finals?
LoL Worlds 2023 Anthem: Kpop Band Ateez Visits Riot Studios
On August 16, 2023 the official Ateez Instagram dropped photos at the Riot Games headquarters, as well as a selfie of member San. This had fans, kpop and League of Legends alike, wondering whether this is a sign that the boy group, or at least some members of the group, would be featured on the upcoming League of Legends World's anthem.
With the event being held in South Korea, it would make sense to include a South Korean artist in the making of the song. When Worlds was in Korea in 2018, a special remix of the beloved 'Rise' was released by the Glitch Mob, featuring Bobby of the group iKon.
Speculations continue after the official Riot Games Music account posted two group pictures of ATEEZ on August 28, 2023, with the caption "made some new gamer friends at work @ATEEZofficial".
made some new gamer friends at work @ATEEZofficial we're sad that Captain Hongjoong couldn't make it but we'll always have a seat saved for him at the PC bang #ATEEZ # pic.twitter.com/LX8MaOwd2i
— Riot Games Music (@riotgamesmusic) August 28, 2023
With LoL World's just around the corner, and Riot and ATEEZ "hanging out" more and more often, a collab for World's seems pretty realistic, don't you think? But maybe ATEEZ "just came to game" on Riot Games' campus like Riot Games Music commented on Twitter, so who knows?
Collab For World's Song Or Even Entire New Skin Line?
Now the biggest question is, would this be part of the LoL World's anthem, or is Riot working on a new group, similar to K/DA? Fans have been asking for a new project group featuring male characters, but would Riot go the same kpop route with this type of project?
The LoL World's anthem seems more plausible for the group, but for now everything is just speculation, since there has been no official announcement from Riot, or Ateez and their label, yet.
So, maybe it was just the members visiting Riot because they love playing League? Or it really was business.