Riot Games has confirmed that Oli Sykes of BRING ME THE HORIZON and Courtney LaPlante of SPIRITBOX have joined producer Grabbitz for the 2026 Valorant Champions anthem, "If The Sun Burns Out Tonight". Written and produced by Grabbitz, the song is released globally this autumn, with a behind-the-scenes trailer already out.
For heavy music, the reach involved is not trivial. Valorant Champions is one of the largest events in esports, and its anthems have become a fixture: Grabbitz's own "Die For You" (2021), Ashnikko's "Fire Again" (2022) and "Ticking Away" with bbno$ (2023) have collectively drawn more than 350 million streams.
"The best collaborations happen when everyone brings a different perspective to the room — and that's what makes this record so exciting to me," Grabbitz said. "Oli, Courtney and I came together from different corners of the globe, and landed on a track that sits effortlessly between my electronic world and the heavy landscapes of BRING ME THE HORIZON and SPIRITBOX. The three of us just clicked — and the result is what I believe to be the best Valorant anthem to date."
Sykes framed it as a natural extension of what he already does. "I've always been drawn to projects that blur the lines between storytelling and music, so working with Riot Games, alongside Grabbitz and Courtney, and becoming part of the Valorant world felt like a really natural fit."
LaPlante, meanwhile, pointed out that this is the first studio meeting of two voices that have shared stages for years. "Oli has given me the opportunity to perform live with BMTH many times over the years, and we're finally debuting something we worked on together. Grabbitz produced such a great atmosphere and a song tailored to all three of our voices, and Oli went in right away and made it a true collaboration."
It is LaPlante's second Riot Games project after "Ties That Bind" for 2XKO, and Sykes's first.
"They're two of the most respected voices in modern heavy music," said Bob DeBelina, music artist partnerships manager at Riot Games. "Pairing them with Grabbitz, the artistic force behind some of Valorant's most iconic musical moments, made for an incredible collaboration."
Valorant Champions Shanghai 2026 runs from September 24 to October 18, with the world's top 16 teams competing in the sixth edition of the tournament, which has previously been staged in Berlin, Istanbul, Los Angeles, Seoul and Paris.
Both bands remain busy elsewhere — SPIRITBOX have spent the last two years graduating to festival headline slots, while BRING ME THE HORIZON continue to work at arena scale.
Source: blabbermouth.net