LoL: From Pentakill to Arcane, League of Legends expands far beyond the Rift

Thanks to Riot Games’ expansion into other forms of media, League of Legends' influence has reached far beyond its own community. From Spotify to Netflix, League of Legends has found its way into the public eye. Riot’s creations have topped charts, broken records, and gained impressive support from viewers on social media.

After the game built an established community, League of Legends dabbled a bit in music. The earliest days of Riot Games’ music production included some unique music that played in the launcher during special events. Riot released skins portraying some champions as members of a music group as early as September 2010 with the release of some of the original Pentakill skins. At the time, these were just for aesthetics; it was an alternate universe like Blood Moon or Sugar Rush. At the time, the group was not a real band, and they did not have any music released.

In 2014, new ground was broken. Pentakill—a musical group made up entirely of champions—released an album called “Smite and Ignite”. The in-universe band took some favorite characters to real-life musicians, with some of their music even hitting the Billboard Top 40. Riot had a smash hit on their hands with their first in-universe band.

During Pentakill’s first album, the champions in the band were Mordekaiser, Yorick, Olaf, Karthus, and Sona. The release included Jørn Lande of Jorn and Masterplan and ZP Theart of DragonForce for vocals, both playing the part of Karthus, the Deathsinger.

The group had a comeback in 2017 with their second album, “II: Grasp of the Undying” reaching the top five on the iTunes metal chart following its release. With this album, Kayle was added to the lineup, introducing female vocals and featuring Noora Louhimo (of Battle Beast). Retextured skins were added for the champions already in the group. Jørn Lande returned as Karthus, and Per Johanssen of Fate supplemented Karthus’ vocals on a couple of tracks during their sophomore album.

Pentakill’s third album, “III: Lost Chapter” was released in 2021. All champions returned for Pentakill III, and Viego joined the music-based universe as the Dissonance of Pentakill. He was voiced by Tyler “Telle” Smith and Tre Watson, playing a character designed to be the antithesis of everything Pentakill stands for.

In 2017, Riot had a new in-universe music group to drop—K/DA, a K-pop-inspired girl group made up of some of the game’s most popular characters. Announced during the opening ceremony for Worlds 2018 with skins to match, the group captured attention of players and music fans alike, with their original single skyrocketing to top the charts for digital sales shortly after its release.

Champions in K/DA include Ahri (Miyeon of (G)-Idle), Akali (Soyeon of (G)-Idle), Evelynn (Madison Beer), and Kai’sa (Jaira Burns).

In November 2020, K/DA made an official comeback with a full-album release. “All Out” rose to critical acclaim, with its second single topping iTunes’ K-Pop chart on release. The album spotlighted each member with songs that reflected their imagery and story.

During the All Out era, K/DA also collaborated with Seraphine, who was voiced by Lexie Liu. Seraphine, despite having a skin related to the collaboration, was not a member of K/DA. She was an independent artist in the universe where the rest of these groups performed. K-pop group TWICE also contributed to the track “I’ll Show You”, making K/DA a huge collaboration between some of the most successful girl groups to date.

Riot continued to explore different musical genres, briefly launching another band from its character roster. In 2019, True Damage brought a hip-hop vibe to Riot’s lineup, ending up with only one song before being shelved.

“Giants” was released on November 10, 2019, and amassed over 21 million views on YouTube. Champions in the group included Akali (Soyeon), Ekko (Thutmose), Senna (Keke Palmer), Qiyana (Becky G), and Yasuo (unvoiced, acting as their producer).

Giants took a few departures from the style found in K/DA’s work, featuring a more cartoonish style in the music video. The song also featured lines in Spanish, a first for Riot’s music at the time. As with K/DA and later Pentakill releases, skins were published in the game, matching the music video.

On October 15, 2019, Riot made a huge announcement during their 10th anniversary celebrations: League of Legends would be featured in a Netflix-exclusive series. The budget for the Piltover-based show was massive— reportedly the largest for any animated series to date.

This show brought the world of League of Legends to an entirely new audience, presenting a rich, character-driven story that served as a great introduction to the game’s lore. The series aimed to appeal to current players by offering a new perspective on the lore of the game, more insight into some players favorite characters, and opportunities to forge a deeper connection with their mains. For new players, being introduced to a more fleshed-out character experience might be just enough to get them to try to pick up the game.

Despite the show bringing an initial influx of new players in 2021 right after its release, it was reported that many of the new players did not stick around. The learning curve of the game and the general lack of story within the MOBA did not bode well for those trying it for the first time. The community did not take well to the influx of new people joining because of the game, and Reddit was filled with discourse about the community’s treatment of newbies. Despite the show being a smash hit with audiences, the Return on investment was not as good as expected.

In late 2023, HEARTSTEEL, a boy band made of League of Legends champions dropped their first—and so far only—song, sending Riot Music soaring up the charts, becoming one of the company’s most successful music releases to date. The group brought in a strong variety of creators from numerous genres to release a song that would enchant audiences, and it seems they struck gold.

Characters in the group included Aphelios (unvoiced instrumentals), Ezreal (Baekhyun of EXO and SuperM), K’Sante (Tobi Lou), Kayn (Cal Scruby), Sett (ØZI), and Yone (unvoiced producer). As of this article’s publication, no follow-up albums, singles, or in-game events have been announced.

As Riot continues to expand its horizons into new music genres and mediums, it’s clear that the game is much more than just another MOBA. Players have fallen in love with the characters Riot has developed, and the company found great success in every genre they’ve tried so far.

With their portfolio including everything from a smash-hit animated production to heavy metal and K-pop, League’s universe has expanded far beyond what many people would have imagined. Riot’s strategy proves one thing: League of Legends isn’t just a game—it’s a universe. Whether you're here for the gameplay, the music, or the lore, Riot's got a spot on the stage for you.