I am a K-pop fan. I know, I know, you can all stop booing. Though I wouldn’t consider myself up to the caliber of other fans who eat, breathe and sleep their faves, I won’t lie and act like I haven’t broken down in tears over the disbandment of LOONA (rest in peace). K-pop is fun — and I understand why the genre is so globally adored.

So why am I talking about K-pop in a column that’s supposed to be about video games? Because the $5 billion K-pop industry makes money — an exorbitant amount of money. And if there’s anything game companies want, it’s a piece of the profitable K-pop pie.

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Riot Games kicked off the K-pop trend that other companies have since scrambled to replicate with its hit band K/DA. K/DA is a fictional K-pop group originally consisting of “League of Legends” champions Ahri, Akali, Evelynn and Kai’Sa. Each character has a real-life counterpart, two of the members’ singing voices being supplied by members SOYEON and MIYEON of the popular K-pop group (G)I-DLE.

K/DA was formed to promote “League of Legends,” with Riot releasing a full-length animated music video for the group’s first hit single “POP/STARS,” which went on to become a gold record. The video has amassed an impressive 572 million views to date, clearly exemplifying the successful reception of K/DA’s debut.

Each of the members’ looks in the music video was made available for purchase in the League of Legends store as skins, which are cosmetics used to change the appearance of the player’s character. Soon after the video’s release, K/DA’s stylish skins dominated almost every match.

Though the exact amount is unknown, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Riot likely made a ridiculous amount of money from this collaboration. By replicating the long-worshiped girl group formula, Riot cleverly tapped into a precious resource: stan culture. Who wouldn’t want to spend $20 to look like their new favorite idol while terrorizing Summoner’s Rift?

This collab was a brave foray into the unknown for Riot. Though K-pop has been popularized over the past few years thanks to groups like BTS, BLACKPINK and NewJeans, in 2018, when POP/STARS was released, K-pop was still considered an internet naughty word, a cringe fan subculture to be frowned upon. Luckily for Riot, its gamble paid off tenfold, spawning the new trend of K-pop game collaborations.

No company is doing it quite like Riot Games, though. Last month, Riot released its second fictional K-pop group, Heartsteel. Champions Ezreal, Aphelios, Yone, K’Sante, Kayn and Sett received the K/DA makeover, also releasing an animated music video for their single “PARANOIA,” which featured K-pop legend BAEKHYUN of EXO.

Though the Heartsteel skins aren’t set to release until Wednesday, they’re projected to make Riot a pretty penny thanks to their already dedicated fanbase. Heartsteel is really all “League of Legends” fans have been able to talk about since their debut — a testament to Riot’s masterful knowledge of its general audience. After all, South Korea has one of the biggest “League” player bases in the world. Though they can’t keep everyone happy (there are always going to be haters), the overlap between Riot Games’ fans and K-pop stans isn’t lost on the creative team at the company.

With the “League of Legends” Worlds 2023 Opening Ceremony coming up on Nov. 19, which will feature both Heartsteel and NewJeans, I can’t help but wonder what’s next for Riot Games’ K-pop agenda. Though I highly doubt we’ll get another collaboration soon, it’s interesting to consider what they must think of the collab between “Overwatch 2” and superstar group LE SSERAFIM.

The first-person shooter game produced the English single “Perfect Night” with the girl group and released LE SSERAFIM-themed skins and cosmetics for heroes Kiriko, Brigitte, Tracer, D.Va and Sombra. Blizzard Entertainment even featured LE SSERAFIM at its annual convention, BlizzCon.

Though the collaboration isn’t identical to Riot’s strategy of forming original groups, the LE SSERAFIM x “Overwatch 2” collaboration has certainly made enough noise to at least be considered competition to Riot’s K-pop endeavors. Even I bought the LE SSERAFIM skin bundle.

However, I doubt Blizzard can compete with Riot in the long run. Riot’s been churning out content like this for years, and with Riot’s FPS game “VALORANT” already crushing “Overwatch 2”’s player base, it’s unlikely Blizzard can stay consistent with these collaborations. If Riot were to ever do a “VALORANT” K-pop collab, I can safely say that it would put Blizzard’s K-pop hopes and dreams to bed.

Other companies should learn a lesson from Riot: Know your audience. Engage with their trends and interests. Play into what fans love, and avoid what they hate. So many game companies fail to conduct solid research on their consumers thanks to creative teams that simply piggyback off other companies’ ideas.

I’ve talked about dying originality in the games industry before, and I probably will again. Though Riot’s already found the K-pop Golden Goose, companies should focus on forging their own, new trends, rather than riding the coattails of another organization’s success.

But, at the end of the day, I can’t complain too much. One side of me wants to change the industry through well-written criticism; the other loves playing “Overwatch 2” with my silly little LE SSERAFIM emotes — the tragic duality of modern gaming.

Aubrie Cole is a sophomore writing about video games in her column, “Downloadable Content,” which runs every other Tuesday. She is also an arts & entertainment editor at the Daily Trojan.