The 2025 LoL Worlds anthem is out and the community is left divided

After weeks of anticipation, the world saw the release of the 2025 LoL Worlds anthem, “Sacrifice”. Sung by Hong Kong singer/songwriter, G.E.M, the song delivered a familiar grandiose feeling, while the music video’s stunning animation and its story led LoL Esports fans down memory lane.

As 2025 marks the 15th anniversary of Worlds, the ballad’s music video gave tribute to key moments in League of Legends Worlds history. Many iconic pro players were reimagined as their signature champions in a cosmic space to reenact their classic matches at Worlds. Various easter eggs were also hidden throughout the video, such as having the words “그때, 딱 각이 보였습니다” (I saw the angle) shown on screen, referencing Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok’s quote in Hall of Legends, to an airplane constellation that references the ‘flying back home’ meme, added more flair to the celebration of Worlds’ 15 year history.

A Beautiful Tribute to the Season 1 Champion

One of the tributes went to the season 1 champion, Maciej “Shushei” Ratuszniak, who was featured in the final moments of the video. After the world learned about his death after a battle with cancer in April 2025, fans from all around the world mourned the passing of one of the most iconic figures in LoL Esports history. Depicted as a constellation, it’s a beautiful tribute to the champion’s legacy that will live forever in memory, just like the stars in space.

The Fan Reaction to the 2025 LoL Worlds anthem

The fan reaction to the ballad itself was divisive. Certain parts of the video that depicted famous plays, such as Faker’s Azir catching Park “Ruler” Jae-hyeok at Worlds 2023, to the stunning tribute to Shushei, were highly praised. However, not only is there little to no praise about the music itself, the depiction of Luka “Perkz” Perkovíc over Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau also led to negative community reactions as well.

The Worlds Music Video will now launch on October 13, a few days later than originally planned. Bwipo was featured in the original cut, but given his recent comments, we decided it wouldn’t be right to showcase him in a piece that represents LoL Esports, pro players, and fans.…

— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 8, 2025

Prior to the release of the song, Riot Games announced the controversial postponement of the song’s release, stating that the additional time needed was due to having to edit out Bwipo from the original cut of the music video. This decision came after Bwipo’s recent controversial comments, and this decision left the community divided.

The community was confused as to why Perkz was the replacement not only due to his own set of accusations of liking misogynistic and pro-Russian propaganda on social media, The fact that no other NA player was featured to replace Bwipo, especially in a music video that celebrates 15 years of Worlds history, left many in distaste.

Riot’s decision to remove Bwipo ultimately led to having zero North American representation in the video. This had the community expressing their disappointment even further, as they felt that a region and its fanbase, which has been a foundational part of LoL Esports, was utterly disrespected.