The new League of Legends yearly Worlds anthem is a bop from NewJeans

polygon.com:

As a long-time League of Legends fan, I’ve followed the game’s esports scene for years. It’s been a hot minute since I followed the ins and outs of competitive play, but there’s a yearly highlight I always make sure to catch: the yearly Worlds anthem. Last year’s song was “Star Walkin’” by Lil Nas X, which is tough to top, but NewJeans may have pulled it off with this year’s “Gods.”

Gods has a nice sense of escalation to it, and the chorus hits a great balance between being catchy and inspiring. The pace of the song also goes well with the video, and it’s great to see so many characters using the iconic tools of their favorite champions, whether that be Jayce’s Mercury Hammer, Braum’s giant shield, or Syndra’s glowing orbs of destruction.

Worlds is the year’s biggest tournament, where teams from every region in the world come together in a multi-week tournament that plays out across multiple stages. It is considered the most prestigious prize in all of League of Legends. This year’s tournament will be held in South Korea.

Every anthem is accompanied by an animated video, which sets the scene for the tournament to come. This year, we’ve been treated to a gorgeous cinematic telling the tale of various esports stars and their journey through the 2022 esports circuit. The story is told through action sequences, where the players take up the tools of their champion of choice.

This year’s video was created with Psyop, a studio behind several other animated cinematics and the Dead by Daylight. Each scene correlates with previous tournaments and events, mostly centered around one of the most successful and well-known players from Korea — Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu.

Worlds 2023 begins on Oct. 10 and will run through to the finals on