The worlds of music and gaming have been creating beautiful crossovers as of late, as the two mediums have found a middle ground to showcase the best in each other.

Maria Egan, the Global Head of Music and Events at Riot Games, is one of the driving forces for the collaboration between both mediums. Spearheading the global music content for all of Riot's gaming, television series, and film projects, she has been the mastermind behind some of the best content for both fandoms.

Some of her latest accomplishments, particularly specific to the K-Pop world, include a partnership with NewJeans for the 2023 Worlds anthem 'GODS', and overseeing the creation of virtual boy group collective HEARTSTEEL (including Tobi Lou, Cal Scruby,  ØZI, and K-Pop idol EXO's BaekHyun). In fact, these fulfillments and more were well-showcased at the 2023 Worlds Media Day ahead of the "League of Legends" final over the past weekend.

You can read an in-depth review of the event in this article:

Kpopmap had the honor of conducting an exclusive interview with Riot Games' Global Music & Events Head, Maria Egan, about the nature of her work, what she looks for in artists to collaborate with, her beliefs on the influence music plays in the gaming world, the impact of K-Pop and fandom, and much more.

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to speak to Kpopmap today, Maria. Please introduce yourself to our readers from all over the world.

I joined Riot Games as the Global Head of Music & Events in May 2022. I have spent 25 years in the music business and now oversee the global music content for Riot’s gaming, Esports, television series, and film projects. My team is also developing Riot’s location-based experiences based on our games, which include in-person, mixed reality, and immersive events across the globe. My team and I also manage all our partnerships with artists and the music industry.

Before we get started, many people are familiar with Riot Games which is renowned for not only its astounding player-focused game releases such as “League of Legends” and “VALORANT”, but also for its work culture. As the Global Head of Music & Events, can you give us a look into a day in your life? What does your job entail on a day-to-day basis?

It’s different every day which is part of the fun. One day we might be dreaming up the direction for a new virtual artist like HEARTSTEEL with League, another day working on the original soundtrack for "Arcane" or putting together artist partnerships for "VALORANT" launches or an Esports event like NewJeans for Worlds. We have such a large and varied ecosystem and music is such a big part of everything we do so it’s constantly dynamic and evolving.

As a prominent music executive, thrice honored by Billboard as a power player in the industry, please share with our readers how you first got interested in this career path and how different it is from what you had expected initially.

I’ve always been interested in where music culture and technology meet and have tried to be intentional to stay at the forefront of that intersection. I spent all my career in the traditional music industry, I was a crazy music fan and had a homemade fanzine in high school, and working around music was the only thing I ever wanted to do with my life. Coming to Riot gave me the opportunity to blend those twin passions. Gaming is shaping culture and entertainment in completely new ways and Riot has been best in class with music integrations. I feel very lucky to have been given this opportunity

You have worked with award-winning global artists, the likes of Lil Nas X, Kehlani, Tiesto, Jackson Wang (of GOT7), and more. How do you go about selecting artists to target your users? Which element or concept do you look for, especially if the artist has not been associated with gaming before?

We are open to working with artists of any genre or level who are excited about working with our IPs and understand we’re trying to make incredible things for our community of players. Sometimes the artist is a core gamer and plays our games, but often they are just fascinated with the culture and are excited about the opportunity to do something different. Considerations when we choose artists might be the regional fandom of an artist like having Jackson at Worlds was a tribute to our massive community of Chinese players, or maybe the artist is creatively just really right for the moment - like Porter Robinson and Star Guardian League of Legends in-game experience.

Your partnership with NewJeans for ‘GODS’ was also a pleasant surprise for many fans. Can you tell us how and why you went about partnering with them? What made them stand out to you among other K-Pop artists for the WORLDS 2023 Anthem?

This is the third time we’ve been in Korea with Worlds. We wanted to pay tribute to our host country with a K-Pop artist featured on the anthem and NewJeans’ meteoric rise globally is perfectly timed for a powerful cultural collaboration. We knew there might be an overlap with the League of Legends community and NewJeans’ fanbase of Bunnies, but we didn’t know how big until we launched - it was awesome to see both fandoms so excited about the collab.
We were particularly excited about 'GODS' because it was a surprise for our audiences, as NewJeans is typically known for their light, R&B-inspired music. With its epic choirs and more intense production elements, 'GODS' takes their sound in a different direction. It’s true to the iconic anthem sound that League fans know and love, but with the girls’ incredible vocals giving it a fresh new twist. We believe that unique combination has led to its success.
'GODS' became our highest debut for a Worlds anthem in Riot’s history, which tells us that our collaboration resonated really strongly with both communities.

HEARTSTEEL is yet another Riot Games virtual artist collective that has been generating buzz since its announcement. This group boasts character with its fusion alternative hip-hop sound and the unique collaboration of artists. Can you tell us more about the process of selecting the members of HEARTSTEEL and pairing them to their respective Champions? Were there any specific personality or musical traits that you were looking for?

For HEARTSTEEL, the concept started with players’ fan art that inspired the music team to develop a new virtual artist. When we chose the champions, we considered factors like personality, member chemistry, and genre fit. The Champions in HEARTSTEEL are also some of our players’ favorite characters and they’ve been speculating about versions of this lineup for years. For example, Ezreal was a perfect fit as the lead vocalist for HEARTSTEEL. For years our fans have loved his hotshot attitude, but he’s also an innovative visionary with never-ending curiosity. It felt authentic and fun to apply that DNA to his lead singer role in HEARTSTEEL.
We also thought about role diversity in the game. It was important to have champions with diverse play styles so the band would resonate with players both in their music identity and gameplay.

It seems that K-Pop, among other genres, has played a big role in the musical and gaming industries recently. Along with the NewJeans partnership and adding EXO member BaekHyun to HEARTSTEEL this year… Previously, in 2018, Riot Games also launched the virtual girl group K/DA which had a heavy K-Pop influence. Are there any specific music trends evident in K-Pop that you believe will revolutionize the integration of music and gaming in the future? What role do you think K-Pop will play in this matter?

It started because we’re all just massive fans of K-Pop and know our players love this genre as well. As K-Pop continues to evolve and dominate charts around the world, we’re definitely excited to see what more we can do in the space. There’s also a very special connection between fandoms as passionate as the League fandom and K-Pop fandom - they share many of the same qualities and many K-Pop artists authentically play our games, like BaekHyun. Our fandoms both have a deep dedication to the artists and the IPs, they are super creative and very active online. When we put our two communities together it creates these really fun, supercharged pop culture moments.

Esports, particularly, has been gaining more and more recognition steadily over the years. This can be partly attributed to the intersection between the worlds of music and gaming where, for example, non-gaming music fans have also discovered the charm of the sport. Could you please describe the level of influence that you think music plays in the gaming world?

Music helps players connect their gameplay to their lifestyle and a new artist or a song feels more significant when it’s associated with a gaming IP that fans already know and love. League fans in particular are huge music fans - 29/30 of the videos on the League of Legends YouTube channel are music videos. Throughout Riot’s history, we have always used music to introduce new champions and content in our games, which helps build their affinity for our characters as we’ve expanded our world.
Our music also can grow the League community, as fans of our artist collaborators hear K/DA, HEARTSTEEL, or an epic Worlds anthems like 'GODS' and get curious about the games and IP that inspired that song.

Please tell us where you see the future of music in gaming heading, and what innovations or developments you are looking forward to.

I love the creative in-game collaborations we see happening a lot more now like virtual concerts or playable characters. I see a future where artists can find a new canvas collaborating with games to deliver incredible new experiences to players that would be impossible to replicate in real life.

You are not only in charge of music content for games but for film and television, as well. Could you share whether there is a difference in how you approach the musical strategy for a project depending on its medium?

Not really - it’s all about storytelling and making sure the artist and song fits the emotional moment. Film & TV projects can give you a little more flexibility with style and genre. For example, Sting appearing on our "Arcane" soundtrack was a surprise for our players and Sting fans - but overall we try and have the same North Star. We ask ourselves, “Will our players think this is awesome?”

Do you have any personal favorite projects that you’ve worked on in terms of music content and events? What made it so special to you?

In terms of my work at Riot, HEARTSTEEL holds a special place in my heart. I’ve only been at the company for about 1.5 years so HEARTSTEEL is one of the first big, company-wide music projects I’ve been able to see go from creation to release. The process took over a year, and hundreds of Rioters helped develop the creative concept, make original music, define the brand, create in-game skins, and execute the marketing campaign. So, the fan reaction to our Champions and the talent who have brought HEARTSTEEL to life has felt particularly meaningful to me.

Thank you once again to Maria Egan for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer this interview with so much insight. We can't wait to see more of what she does in terms of music for Riot Games! We wish her all the best in the future and going forward!

Are you a fan of Riot Games' content and IP? Let us know your favorites in the comments!