VALORANT Champions 2026 Anthem Unites Grabbitz, Oli Sykes and Courtney LaPlante

Riot Games has released “If The Sun Burns Out Tonight,” the official anthem for VALORANT Champions 2026. The track brings together returning Riot collaborator Grabbitz, Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes and Spiritbox vocalist Courtney LaPlante for an apocalyptic fusion of electronic production and modern heavy music.

The anthem and its official music video arrived on September 16, providing the soundtrack to the final countdown before Champions Shanghai begins on September 24. The song is also available through major music-streaming platforms as a standalone single credited to VALORANT and its three featured performers.

Built around the question of what someone will do when the world ends and the void calls their name, “If The Sun Burns Out Tonight” embraces the pressure that defines Riot’s season-ending tournament. Its promotional message reduces that moment to one uncompromising choice: kill or die.

Riot Builds Its Heaviest Champions Collaboration Yet

The combination of Grabbitz, Oli Sykes and Courtney LaPlante gives the 2026 anthem a noticeably heavier identity than many previous VALORANT esports releases.

Grabbitz provides the connection to Riot’s established electronic sound. The American producer and vocalist has become one of the most recognizable musicians associated with the VALORANT Champions Tour, having performed “Die For You” for the inaugural Champions event in 2021. He later returned alongside bbno$ for “Ticking Away,” the anthem for Champions 2023.

His involvement gives “If The Sun Burns Out Tonight” continuity with earlier VCT music while leaving room for a more aggressive direction. Grabbitz has described the track as sitting between his electronic work and the heavier musical landscapes associated with Bring Me The Horizon and Spiritbox.

Oli Sykes brings the distinctive voice of Bring Me The Horizon, a band that has repeatedly moved between metalcore, alternative rock, electronic music and pop-oriented experimentation. That flexibility makes him a natural fit for Riot’s genre-blending approach, where competitive gaming, animation, cinematic storytelling and contemporary music are expected to function as parts of the same campaign.

Courtney LaPlante completes the collaboration with the vocal power that has made Spiritbox one of modern metal’s most prominent bands. Her ability to shift between melodic singing and harsher delivery gives the anthem another layer of intensity without limiting it to a single type of heavy music.

A Long-Awaited Collaboration Between Sykes and LaPlante

Although “If The Sun Burns Out Tonight” is their first original VALORANT collaboration, Oli Sykes and Courtney LaPlante already share an established performance history.

LaPlante has previously joined Bring Me The Horizon onstage, performing material including “Chelsea Smile,” “Nihilist Blues” and “One Day the Only Butterflies Left Will Be in Your Chest as You March Towards Your Death.” Their involvement in the same Riot project therefore feels less like an artificial pairing and more like the formal recording of a collaboration that had been developing through live appearances.

LaPlante said ahead of the release that she had been waiting for the opportunity to unveil something created with Sykes. She also credited Grabbitz with constructing an atmosphere capable of accommodating all three voices.

Sykes, meanwhile, highlighted the relationship between music and storytelling. VALORANT’s Champions anthems are not produced merely as tournament theme songs; they are normally integrated into a wider visual narrative about ambition, failure, sacrifice and the cost of competing at the highest level.

That narrative function is particularly appropriate for artists accustomed to conceptual projects and dramatic musical contrasts.

“If The Sun Burns Out Tonight” Embraces an Apocalyptic Theme

The official framing imagines the end of the world, the collapse of the familiar and a void demanding an answer. Rather than asking whether the competitors are afraid, it asks how they will respond when no safe option remains.

That language maps naturally onto VALORANT Champions. Every participating team enters Shanghai after surviving an entire competitive season, but previous achievements offer no protection once the tournament begins. A poor series can end a year of preparation, while one decisive play can permanently change a player’s career.

The title also captures the scale Riot wants to associate with its world championship. If the sun itself can disappear, normal expectations no longer matter. Competitors must continue despite the collapse happening around them, trusting their teammates and making decisions before hesitation becomes defeat.

This is an editorial reading of the anthem’s promotional theme rather than a literal explanation supplied by Riot. However, the connection between cosmic destruction and competitive pressure is clearly central to the campaign’s tone.

The “kill or die” question intensifies that idea. In ordinary VALORANT matches, death is temporary and rounds provide another opportunity. At Champions, elimination carries a more permanent meaning. Teams that fail are removed from the title race, and there is no next international event within the same season where they can correct the result.

Grabbitz Returns to the Sound of VALORANT Champions

Grabbitz’s return is significant because his previous work helped establish the musical identity of VALORANT’s biggest tournament.

“Die For You” became closely associated with the first Champions in Berlin, combining esports footage and animation with a song about sacrifice and commitment. “Ticking Away” later approached competition through time, missed opportunities and the awareness that a player’s chance to become champion will not remain open indefinitely.

“If The Sun Burns Out Tonight” escalates those ideas. Sacrifice and limited time are still present, but the framing now moves toward complete destruction. The challenge is no longer simply whether a competitor is willing to give everything; it is whether they can act when everything appears to be ending.

Bringing Sykes and LaPlante into that established formula also expands the anthem’s potential audience. Fans of Bring Me The Horizon and Spiritbox may encounter VALORANT esports through the artists, while existing VCT viewers receive a song that reaches beyond conventional electronic tournament music.

Riot has used this crossover strategy extensively across its games. The music is designed to stand independently on streaming platforms while still serving the competitive event’s narrative and promotional needs.

Champions Shanghai Begins on September 24

The anthem arrives shortly before the opening of VALORANT Champions 2026 in Shanghai. Riot has confirmed that its opening broadcast begins on September 24 at 1:00 a.m. PDT, corresponding to 4:00 p.m. China Standard Time.

Champions represents the final and most important tournament of the VCT season. The world’s leading qualified teams will compete for the VALORANT world championship after advancing through their respective regional campaigns and international qualification routes.

Riot is presenting the Shanghai opening as a city-wide celebration rather than an event confined to a single arena. Planned broadcast segments will incorporate locations and communities across the city, including Artist Alley, the VALORANT Concept PC Bang and other Shanghai venues.

The company has described it as its most ambitious Champions opening so far. That makes an anthem with three internationally recognized vocalists an appropriate centerpiece for the campaign.

Pick’Ems have already opened through the VALORANT client, Riot Mobile and the official esports website. Group Stage predictions remain available until shortly after the first Champions match begins, while Playoffs Pick’Ems are scheduled to open following the bracket draw on October 4.

More Than a Promotional Song

A successful esports anthem must work in several different contexts. It needs enough impact for a cinematic music video, a recognizable hook for broadcast packages and enough emotional weight to accompany player stories throughout the tournament.

“If The Sun Burns Out Tonight” has been assembled specifically around those demands. Grabbitz supplies Riot’s established electronic connection, Sykes brings Bring Me The Horizon’s genre-crossing aggression, and LaPlante contributes a vocal style capable of moving between vulnerability and overwhelming force.

The collaboration is also notable because none of its artists feels incidental. This is not a case of attaching recognizable names to an otherwise standard promotional track. The song was constructed around three different musical identities, with official credits naming Nicholas Chiari and Frank Regelski among its writers.

Whether it ultimately becomes one of the community’s favorite Champions anthems will depend on how strongly it connects with the tournament itself. Previous VCT songs accumulated much of their meaning through the matches, players and defining moments associated with them.

For now, “If The Sun Burns Out Tonight” sets the tone before the first bullet is fired. The world is ending, the void is calling and only one team will survive Shanghai as the 2026 VALORANT world champion.