Riot Games’ Maria Egan accepted Variety Hitmakers‘ first-ever Interactive Music in Media Award on Saturday afternoon, celebrating the company’s accomplishments in bridging the worlds of gaming and music.
Egan, head of global music at Riot Games, has spent the past few years engaging the global gaming community by working with musicians, managers and record labels to bring bespoke songs to the worlds of “League of Legends” and “Valorant.” Counting collaborations with Stray Kids, Imagine Dragons and Lil Nas X, Riot has also found success with its soundtracks for “Arcane,” an animated Netflix series whose albums have earned billions of streams.
JJ Italiano, head of global music curation and discovery at Spotify, introduced Egan by listing Riot’s accomplishments, including its recent work with G.E.M. and Anyma for the League of Legends World Championship in China.
“At Riot Games, as you can see, music isn’t just background,” Egan told the Hitmakers crowd. “We say it’s the heartbeat of our communities. And gaming and music is at an exciting crossroads, and there are many, many innovative ways for artists to engage. But at Riot, I think we uniquely value the timeless magic of songs. They galvanize our communities across language, time, continents, they tell our stories, they expand our worlds.
“And the amazing songwriters and artists who worked with us over the past 15 years and there are many of you in this room, you are essential collaborators in what we call the big G of our games,” she continued. “And that to us means there’s this unique ecosystem, esports, music, entertainment, fandom around our games, which makes them some of the largest and most vibrant gaming communities in the world. And as JJ said, we know our players love music deeply, and so our goal more than anything is to build partnerships that help your music reach our global audiences in new ways. We sometimes say where there’s music, there’s new memories. And so we want our players to become your fans and hold your songs in their hearts for the rest of their lives.”