The League of Legends Worlds Song for 2022 will be performed by Lil Nas X.
Earlier today, Riot Games jokingly announced a collaboration with the Old Town Road singer naming him the new company president. That's patently not true, but the pair did announce that the artist will be the voice behind the anthem for this year's League of Legends world championship. The competition is due to take place across North America throughout the autumn, featuring top teams from around the world.
The League of Legends Worlds Song is a long-held tradition within the game's community. The first was Warriors, performed by Imagine Dragons in 2014, which documented the efforts of a set of fictional players. Since then, there's been a song every year, with videos often focusing on some of the most iconic moments and personalities in League of Legends esports history.
While the key focus of Lil Nas X's partnership with Riot is the upcoming song - dubbed 'Star Walkin' and set to release on September 23, that's not all the star is contributing to the game. A high-level 'Prestige' cosmetic for upcoming champion K'Sante has been designed in tandem between Riot and Lil Nas X. While Riot has paired with the likes of brands including Tiffany and Louis Vuitton in the past, this is the first time it's handing artistic license over to an individual, something particularly notable given the importance of League of Legends skin to the company's free-to-play business model.
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I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.