Milo W. November 15, 2018
Riot Games is exploring new avenues of entertainment following the success of their latest musical production.
K/DA is a k-pop group created and produced by Riot Games. It features the musical talents of American singers Madison Beer and Jaira Burns, as well as Soyeon and Miyeon of k-pop girl group (G)I-dle.
The quartet premiered their inaugural single “POP/STARS” during the World Championship opening ceremony.
An animated music video was released with the debut as the vocalists portrayed League champions Evelynn, Kai’sa, Akali, and Ahri. The song sold around 9,000 copies within a few days of its release and reached the top spot on Billboard’s digital song sales the following week.
This is not the first time Riot Games has found success in the musical industry. Riot’s heavy metal band Pentakill released their debut album Smite and Ignite in 2014. The album featured the talents of Jørn Lande and reached the top ten on Billboard’s hard rock chart.
More recently, Riot produced a music video promoting the World Championship series featuring electronic artists The Glitch Mob and Mako.
Riot Games is now investing in expanding their music department after the success of POP/STARS. Creative lead Viranda Tantula is confident that there is a successful future for music in the esports industry.
“We believe there’s a huge overlap between League of Legends, esports overall and the music industry,” Tantula said.
Riot has often been at the fore of esports media entertainment. Their cinematics accumulate millions of views and tackle various genre forms in League of Legends’ infinitely expanding universe.
No other esports company is tapping into this rich cache of content to the degree that Riot Games has. Tantula wants his team to continue to produce music that will reach the widest possible audience.
“We’re dedicated to reaching our fans and community,” Tantula said. “[We] really strive to deliver our music everywhere they would listen to any other music.”
Riot Games released a set of K/DA-themed skins after the premiere of their hit single for each of the champions in the group. Each cosmetic costs 1350 RP.