60-Foot Tall Lil Nas X Hologram Projection for League of Legends Worlds Championship

The largest tournament in the League of Legends calendar, LoL Worlds 2022, just wrapped, and National Experiential brought on Groove Jones to help kick off the event at a media event held in the historic Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.

The world’s top League of Legends players gathered in San Francisco to compete for the title of the best player. The Groove Jones team designed and animated a CGI version of Lil Nas X projected on a 60-foot tall scrim, creating a massive holographic effect for the media and fans that gathered below.

The animation featured Lil Nas X, who initially appears cloaked in the LoL Worlds Flag and then reveals himself as he peers out from underneath the flag before he begins to dance high above the buildings near the Fisherman’s Wharf.

At the end of the animation, a graphic card displayed a QR Code linked to the Spotify track Star Walkin’ (Worlds Anthem) by Lil Nas X.

Ahead of the 2022 League World Championship, Riot Games announced Lil Nas X as its new League of Legends President. According to Riot Games, the beloved artist will be “responsible for creating explosive musical moments, an ingenious League champion skin, and a spectacular live Worlds performance.”

Great moment for fans to capture and share.

250 Drones for Night Show

High above the holographic display projection, over 250 drones put on an amazing show highlighting the two top LoL teams in the world, South Korea’s DRX and T1. The drone show animated the team’s logos as well as the Summoner’s Cup, the trophy that the winners of the World Championship are awarded.

According to Esports Charts, Worlds 2022 broke a League of Legends record as the T1 vs DRX matchup attracted over 5.1 Million viewers. This broke the previous Worlds 2021 record of 4 Million viewers. Worlds this year was broadcast on Twitch, Afreeca TV, Trovo, YouTube, and Facebook.

Behind the Scenes

Below are a few shots of the hardware needed for the spectacular event. The animated holographic effect of Lil Nas X was accomplished through National Experiential by using multiple 4K projectors and a lighting truss holding a 60-foot by 60-foot holoscrim material.

Each of the 4K projectors overlaid a video projection on each other to achieve a brilliant HD holographic image at night.

The drone show utilized 250 individual drones that were choreographically programmed to achieve the animation above the projection. Each drone was equipped with LED lights that changed colors as they animated various LoL images in the sky.