Born out of Riot Games’ mission to integrate immersive musical experiences into their video game franchise League of Legends, virtual K-pop band K/DA was created in 2018, with its four fictional members – Ahri, Akali, Evelynn and Kai’Sa – each borrowing the voices of a rotating cast of prominent real-world singers. The girl group first emerged at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship with a debut single, “Pop/Stars”, which featured vocals from South Korean singers Miyeon and Soyeon and American stars Madison Beer and Jaira Burns. With its promotion aided by in-game augmented reality features, the song promptly went viral, topping Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart. Following a brief period of quiet, the group returned in 2020 with a debut EP entitled All Out, featuring vocal contributions from prominent alt-pop singer Bea Miller on its lead single, “The Baddest”, German singer and LGBTQ+ icon Kim Petras on “Villain”, and BRIT Award nominee Aluna on “Drum Go Dum”. Spawning multiple music videos, the project reached number 176 on the Billboard 200, also topping the national Heatseekers chart and making it into the New Zealand top 40.
