Since 2019, each League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational has flaunted its own anthem. This year would have marked the fifth song released specifically for the event, but instead, fans will have to wait for this year’s World Championship for something to add to their playlists.
With less than two days remaining before the first international event of League’s 2024 competitive season begins, fans can stop looking for signs of the event’s anthem—it won’t come. In a statement provided to Dot Esports, Riot Games confirmed today that a custom anthem for MSI won’t be released this year. Instead, Riot will focus on delivering a “thrilling broadcast experience” for fans worldwide.
The past MSI anthems have an average of about two million views on YouTube and an average of roughly 14 million listens on Spotify. But those are meager numbers compared to the around 70 million views on average for the past four Worlds anthems on YouTube alone. Though MSI anthems usually aren’t as popular as their World Championship counterparts, the songs have been an integral part of the event’s identity, especially since its neon-colored rebrand in 2020.
Aside from a thrilling broadcast experience and over 19 languages covered by co-streams, MSI fans can also expect an opening ceremony that will “shine a spotlight” on League pros, according to Riot. The opening ceremony for last year’s grand finals weaved together the anthem’s live performance with a dance routine that brought to the stage the Inkshadow skin line, created specifically for MSI 2023.
And while there isn’t a new skin line coming to League for this year’s MSI, Riot brought back Neon Strata with six new Empyrean skins, perfectly matching the bright color scheme of the event. The tournament kicks off in Chengdu, China on May 1 at 3am CT with FlyQuest going up against PSG Talon, followed by Estral Esports facing the 2023 world champions, T1.
