LoL Worlds Opening Ceremony: Setting Standards for Future Esports Events
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - November 02: A view of atmosphere at the League of Legends World Championship 2024 opening ceremony on November 02, 2024 in London. (Photo by Joe Brady/Riot Games)
LoL Worlds Opening Ceremony: Setting Standards for Future Esports Events
After five weeks of top-notch action inside the Summoner’s Rift, the League of Legends World Championships 2024 is now down to two teams: Chinese organization Bilibili Gaming, and; South Korea’s T1. This time, they will head to London’s O2 Arena to finish another year of the competitive LoL calendar.
Riot Games was known for having a massive opening ceremony for the Worlds finals. Some of the world’s biggest artists of today have opened the biggest game in LoL’s calendar, from Western acts Lil Nas X, Against the Current, and Imagine Dragons, to Asia’s best Jackson Wang, New Jeans, and (G)I-DLE.
This time, the MasterCard-sponsored event will have three songs to be performed at the O2.
Preview of Arcane Season 2 and the year’s culmination
American artist Ashnikko opened the stage with a massive dance production with the song “Paint the Town Blue.” The song will be included in the soundtrack of the upcoming new season of Riot Games’ series Arcane. The production captured how Jinx is in a song, from Ashnikko’s seemingly inspired outfit to the graphics and backdrops used.
Mars Atlas of Forths and Tiffany Aris followed suit, performing “Still Here,” used for the 2024 competitive scene’s cinematic video. The two teams were shown after dropping the white curtain attached to Mars Atlas’ outfit followed by the lifting of the teams’ banners.
Linkin Park slayed as always
Linkin Park closed the opening ceremonies with the song “Heavy is the Crown,” this Worlds’ theme song. Frontman Mike Shinoda and lead vocalist Emily Armstrong truly delivered on the stage, with the Summoner’s Cup being shown during the song’s instrumental break.
Each team’s members were introduced by pairs in their respective positions, ending with them surrounding the Summoner’s Cup to end the musical acts’ visuals.
The cinematics delivered
Each player had a chance to own their spotlight, sharing how much winning the tournament meant to them. One-by-one, they conveyed the emotion behind each one’s struggles and triumphs, from crumbling down to the biggest stage and retaining their title, to having a champion midlaner and slaying the giants of the scene.
Among all the players, Choi “Zeus” Woo-je’s anger after Worlds 2022 and Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin’s promise of breaking T1’s record of not losing to an LPL team in a best-of-five stood out, both top laners showing their shot at redemption of different perspectives.
How future events be inspired by Worlds’ opening ceremonies
No doubt one of the best things LoL and Riot Games can do to their tournaments, especially their biggest one, was hyping the event up to the final few minutes with a massive opening ceremony fit for a tournament as big as Worlds. The opening ceremonies of Worlds 2024 was nothing short of insane, and both Riot and LoL hit the target.
Other notable esports titles should take notes on having the same hype and feeling as Worlds. It can start at having a good opening event showing the best both in the game and the esports scene in general mixed by a few acts. With these, fans can anticipate having the hype not just on the teams’ performances, but on the overall event as well.
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