Celebrates Five Year Anniversary with New “Why We Fight” Cinematic Featuring Single “EGO” by Qing Madi

A specially crafted music and storytelling moment, the cinematic is inspired by First Light – the inception event for Alpha Earth – and the world of VALORANT as we know it.

Players are introduced to Mary Ade, Phoenix’s sister, and VALORANT’s first non-playable character. She plays a key role in Phoenix’s story as well as sparking a moment of reflection for our agents.

“Every now and then, an artist comes along who just naturally fits into a story, and Qing Madi was that perfect match for Mary Ade. Her raw demo of ‘EGO’ instantly captured the emotional depth we wanted to explore with this music video, and it became a powerful foundation for deeper storytelling in the VALORANT universe. We’re honored to be able to share this cinematic with our community as we celebrate VALORANT’s five-year anniversary.” Quote from Jonny Altepeter, Lead Music Supervisor, Riot Games

Mary’s song, “EGO,” represents a duality for VALORANT’s milestone – celebrating players who have been on this journey with us for the past five years and the emotional challenges faced by our agents, particularly Phoenix.

Quote from Anna Donlon, Studio Head for VALORANT:

“As we pass our five-year milestone, we’ve been presented with a ton of opportunities, moments of reflection and new challenges that keep us in check as more players join us. Our commitment to this game is stronger than ever and I’m so grateful to continue this journey with our community.”

“To celebrate our anniversary, we envisioned a special musical moment capturing the journey of our players and agents. This led us to create Mary, Phoenix’s sister and VALORANT’s first non-playable character. Her song, EGO, embodies the duality of our 2025 celebration: honoring our players who have been with us all these years with us and the emotional challenges faced by our agents, particularly Phoenix.” Quote from David Nottingham, Creative Director on VALORANT