‘Sacrifice’ is a Love Letter to the History of LoL Esports

The 2025 LoL Worlds song is finally out! And with an astonishing amount of Easter eggs, it proudly celebrates 15 years of League of Legends Esports.

Let’s break down Sacrifice and the details you might have missed!

But first here’s the video ICYMI:

Sacrifice ft. G.E.M. (鄧紫棋) (Official Music Video) | League of Legends Worlds 2025 Anthem

Sacrifice: Celebrating legacy and the dimension of LoL Esports

Sacrifice was written to go alongside the motto for the 2025 World Championship, “Earn your legacy”. “Would you sacrifice it all” is the question asked to the competitors: you want to triumph, but do you want it strongly enough and above all else?

Alongside that, the video means to showcase the legacies that have already been written. Memories created over the years, moments that remain alive even a decade later. And so the video taking place in outer space shows how grand the League Esports is. And how strong these legacies can be.

It’s not the story of Faker defending his throne again. Of Deft fighting as the ever-underdog. Or of Ambition’s rise to the top and triumph over Faker. It’s a celebration of all these legacies that left their mark in the hearts of competitors and fans alike. Of 15 years of players sacrificing it all and earning their legacy.

The players in the 2025 LoL Worlds song

Just like most years, this anthem features many pro players each portrayed as a champion. Here are all the ones showcased in Sacrifice, by order of first appearance:

• Caps (Sylas)
• Levi (Karthus)
• TheShy (Aatrox)
• Faker (Azir)
• BDD (Twisted Fate)
• Perkz (Jhin, later Lissandra)
• Life (Leona)
• Ruler (Ashe)
• Clid (Nidalee)
• Kati (Sett)
• Uzi (Vayne)
• Jackeylove (Kai’sa) and Baolan (Braum)
• Jankos (Camille), Hjarnan (Sivir), Wunder (Irelia), Wadid (Alistar)
• Kanavi (Wukong), Zeus (also Aatrox)
• Ruler (Varus)
• Gumayusi (Kalista)
• Missing (Ashe)
• Deft (Caitlyn)
• Shushei

Bwipo was also supposed to be featured in the 2025 LoL Worlds song. But he was cut from it following his comments on women in Esports, as Riot Games didn’t want to associate itself with that message.

The Easter eggs in the 2025 LoL Worlds song

Image Source: League of Legends Youtube channel

Sacrifice contains a ton of references to past Worlds. We won’t list them all (we’ll pretend that it’s for conciseness reasons and not just because I haven’t spotted all of them yet), but here are a few and what they call back to!

• 0:50: Caps had a monstrous 11/0/11 Sylas game against GenG (with Leona and Ashe) at the 2020 Worlds. During it, he narrowly survived an Ashe arrow before stealing that ult and exploding Clid’s Nidalee with it.
• 1:22: At Worlds 2022, TES were hitting GAM’s Nexus. Levi’s Karthus respawned just in time to ult them all and save the game
• 1:53: In 2018, TheShy’s Aatrox found 4 members of G2 with his Q3 in their semifinals match, wiping them out.
• 2:33: In 2023, Faker’s Azir flash-ulted Ruler’s Varus to find the comeback against JDG.
• 3:40: Shushei, Fnatic’s mid laner and very first World champion, passed away from cancer this year. But his legacy will live on.

The World Championship has finally started! Stick around for coverage of the event, or find our ranking of all LoL Worlds songs.

Featured Image Source: League of Legends Youtube channel