Worlds 2025 Music Video Delayed to Remove Bwipo

8 Oct

Foo Zen-Wen

While the gaming world teeters with excitement with the annual release of the Worlds music video, a sobering announcement and statement has been released by Riot Games. Following condemnable statements made by the FlyQuest Top Laner, Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau last month, Riot Games has made the decision to remove any mention or reference to the player from their music video. As a result of this, the release date for the video will now be pushed back several days to October 13th while they make the necessary edits.

A Statement Has Been Made

Riot Games’ stance shows improvement in their management of bad actors within their scene. By publicly announcing their intentions and following through on consequences against Bwipo, it’s a step forwards towards introducing stronger deterrent and a powerful statement against negative influences in the scene. Especially considering Bwipo holds a position of high influence within the League of Legends scene, it’s a necessary action towards continuing to foster a positive community.

The Other Side: Americas Pays the Price

However, because of the actions of one individual, an entire region will end up paying a steep cost this time around.

“Given his recent comments, we decided it wouldn’t be right to showcase him in a piece that represents LoL Esports, pro players, and fans. Editing him out required significant changes during the final stages of production, and because he was the player representing the Americas, that region will not appear in this year’s video as originally intended.”

Due to how close we are to the release date and the significant changes required to edit the music video and remove Bwipo’s cameo in it, the end result the community will receive on October 13th will likely be a far less impressive product than we were originally expected to view.

Riot also asserted in their statement that the decision did not stem as part of “any sanction or competitive ruling” but rather as a “decision about how [Riot] wishes to represent [their] sport and community on a global stage.

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Featured Image Credit: Riot Games

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