When Worlds Collide: 10 Crossovers Between K-Pop and The Gaming Community

From Valkyrae and LE SSERAFIM to BTS and T1, you know it’s a good moment in pop culture when K-pop fans and gamers can come together and celebrate crossovers and collaborations!

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Some collabs make sense, and some are completely unexpected. While the intersection of the Venn Diagram of gamers and K-pop fans is quite big, it’s still pretty niche and sometimes surprising when those worlds collide. We know that so many idols like SEVENTEEN’s Wonwoo, TWICE’s Mina, BTS’ Jungkook, EXO’s Baekhyun, and more are avid gamers of games like Overwatch and League of Legends, and that games know the impact of collaborating with world-renowned Hallyu idols, so the rising trend of these collaborations are well and truly welcome.

Whether it’s an idol group getting featured within a game in the form of soundtracks or voice acting, or real-life top-tier gamers collaborating with idols, these crossovers between K-pop and gaming bridge two different pop culture niches together through music and let everybody have a win or two.

VALKYRAE X LE SSERAFIM

@le_sserafim 🌃Dancing with #valkyrae💗 #LE_SSERAFIM #르세라핌 #Perfect_Night @Valkyrae ♬ Perfect Night – LE SSERAFIM

We love successful women! Filipino-American top gamer and streamer Valkyrae danced with K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM in celebration of the group’s special track Perfect Night. The song is LE SSERAFIM’s first English single and was released as a promotional single for Overwatch 2.

BTS X T1

Back in 2020, supergroup BTS hosted T1, a world-renowned League of Legends team and e-sports organization, on their variety show Run BTS!. The groups competed against each other in different games—and not just video games! Featuring LoL gamers Faker, Teddy, Cuzz, Canna, and Effort, the episodes were a great blend of gaming, laughter, and friendly competition.

BLACKPINK X PUBG

Quartet BLACKPINK has collaborated with battle royale game PUBG twice, first to release special themed customizations, items and skins on PUBG: Battlegrounds, and second with PUBG: Mobile to hold a virtual concert and release a special track and music video for the game titled Ready For Love.

T1’S THEME SONGS WITH BAEKHYUN, THE BOYZ

T1 gives so much to the gamer and K-pop stan community. In 2021, EXO member, vocalist, solo artist, and hugely avid gamer Baekhyun collaborated with rapper Changmo and DJ Raiden to perform Runner, T1’s theme song for that year. Last year, T1 enlisted the vocals of 4th generation boy group THE BOYZ for their 2022 theme song Last Man Standing.

K/DA (WITH (G)I-DLE) X LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

K/DA is a virtual girl group formed in 2018 composed of League of Legends characters Ahri, Evelynn, Kai’Sa, and Akali. The girls debuted with the track Pop/Stars, sung by (G)I-DLE members Soyeon (Akali) and Miyeon (Ahri), Madison Beer (Evelynn), and Jaira Burns (Kai’Sa).

BAEKHYUN AS EZREAL (LEAGUE OF LEGENDS)

League of Legends knows what’s up when it comes to music and collaborating with idols. Like K/DA, LoL‘s newest virtual boy group features the vocals of Baekhyun, who’s voicing the character Ezreal. Soompi writes that HEARTSTEEL consists of “reimagined versions of six League of Legends champions,” namely the vocalists Ezreal, Sett, K’Sante, and Kayn, as well as composer Aphelios and DJ/producer Yone.

JUNGKOOK X XBOX

Jungkook went straight to the source with his collaboration with Xbox. In this collab, ARMYs or gamers or both can get the chance to win a custom Jungkook Xbox by designing and styling their own Xbox character from the Xbox Game Pass library!

HWASA X THE SIMS 4

The Sims made Mamamoo member and soloist Hwasa their muse for a fun, dreamy song and music video to promote The Sims 4. Her vocals, this smooth track, and the Sims? That’s a perfect night made.

TWICE X NINTENDO

TWICE partnered with Nintendo for a full-on brand deal collab for the Nintendo Switch in 2021, complete with promotional photos, commercials for the Ring Fit Adventure, Mario Party Superstars, and Mario Golf Super Rush. We’d play with them any day!

MORE GAME TRACKS

Music is a huge part of video games. And enlisting the vocals, musicality, and reach of K-pop idols for game soundtracks has been a tried-and-true move from video game companies that brings communities together. Just this year, aside from LE SSERAFIM’s Perfect Night for Overwatch 2, NewJeans also dropped GODS, the League of Legends World Championships 2023 anthem. Other artists that sang for games—whether their own mobile games or other video games—include BTS, IU, Monsta X, Mamamoo, and more!

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