KiNG MALA & Audrey Nuna team up to cover a "Toxic" cover to kick off the VALORANT 2026 Season

VALORANT™ KICKS OFF THE 2026 SEASON 

WITH “WHY WE FIGHT BACK” CINEMATIC FEATURING 

“TOXIC” COVER BY KING MALA & AUDREY NUNA

LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 5, 2025 – Riot Games kicks off the 2026 VALORANT Season Start with a dark, seductive reimagining of Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” Rising alt-pop artist KiNG MALA joins forces with KPop Demon Hunters’ standout Audrey Nuna to transform the early-2000s classic into a brooding electronic-pop anthem. Their haunting, moody vocals breathe new life into the iconic track.

The track arrives alongside the cinematic “WHY WE FIGHT BACK,” a video steeped in themes of vengeance and ambition. Fans can watch the full cinematic now, and the track is available across all major streaming platforms.

Listen to “Toxic,” HERE. Watch the “WHY WE FIGHT BACK” cinematic HERE.

"Being invited into the Riot Games and VALORANT world is something I’ll never forget,” shares KiNG MALA. “The chance to reimagine a song I’ve loved for so long was already huge, but finding out that Audrey - one of the artists who inspires me most - would be part of it too made it unforgettable. I’m truly so stoked to have been a part of such an incredible experience."

“Starting the year with a track this emotionally charged feels incredibly special,” shares Jonny Altepeter, Lead Music Supervisor at Riot Games. “KiNG MALA and Audrey Nuna brought a raw intensity to ‘Toxic’ that immediately connected with the themes we’re exploring in WHY WE FIGHT BACK. We’re thrilled to share this piece with players as we enter a season where the stakes and the emotions are higher than ever.” 

Building off last year’s emotionally resonant “WHY WE FIGHT” cinematic that celebrated VALORANT’s five-year anniversary, “WHY WE FIGHT BACK” kicks off the 2026 season with a darker perspective rooted in themes of determination and retaliation through the eyes of VALORANT’s Agents, reminding players that the stakes are higher than ever.

ABOUT RIOT GAMES

Riot Games was founded in 2006 to develop, publish, and support the most player-focused games in the world. In 2009, Riot released its debut title, League of Legends, which has gone on to be one of the most-played PC games in the world. In the years since, Riot has released VALORANT, Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Riftbound and 2XKO. Riot’s titles have led to the creation of some of the most-watched and widely recognized esports in the world, culminating in events like the League of Legends World Championship, VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) and the TFT Open, which are watched by millions of fans each year. Riot has also expanded its IP through multimedia projects across music, comic books, board games, and Arcane, its Emmy-winning animated series.

ABOUT VALORANT

VALORANT is a competitive 5v5 character-based first-person tactical shooter developed and published  by Riot Games for PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation®5, with a mobile version available in China. VALORANT is a precise and lethal multiplayer game with high-fidelity gunplay, a diverse arsenal of guns, agents with unique abilities, and competitively tuned maps for unlimited hours of play. In VALORANT, players lock in their agent for the entire duration of the match and then attempt to win a round-based, attackers vs. defenders, best-of-24-rounds fight.

VALORANT is a free-to-play game and optimized to perform on a wide variety of platforms, allowing for a global audience to compete. Demonstrated by the game’s best-in-class game server quality, global infrastructure, and proprietary anti-cheat technology, Riot Games is committed to preserving the core tenets of the tactical shooter genre and upholding the competitive integrity of the gameplay experience across all available platforms. 

Visit PlayVALORANT.com for more information and follow @VALORANT on social media.

ABOUT KiNG MALA 

KiNG MALA (Areli Castro) is an El Paso–born, Los Angeles–based alt-pop artist known for her boundary-pushing storytelling and dark, cinematic approach to pop. In 2025, she released her debut album And You Who Drowned in the Grief of a Golden Thing, a genre-blurring exploration of desire, power, and transformation. The album arrived to widespread praise from SPIN, Los Angeles Times, and American Songwriter, and was supported by a sold-out North American headline tour. After breaking through with the 2021 viral hit “she calls me daddy”, KiNG MALA amassed a devoted following with 2022’s “cult leader” and her honey catching season and SPILT MILK EPs, drawing listeners into the haunting, narrative-driven world that would define her debut. Renowned for her uninhibited live shows and prolific creative output, KiNG MALA will return to the road and continue to release new music throughout 2026.

ABOUT AUDREY NUNA

Los Angeles- and New Jersey-based grammy nominated singer/rapper/songwriter Audrey Nuna is a shapeshifting visionary blurring the lines between pop, R&B, and alternative. Known for her razor-sharp lyricism, genre-fluid sound, and self creative-directed visuals, she broke out with her acclaimed albums a liquid breakfast and TRENCH, and recently reached No. 1 on Spotify’s Global Chart with “Golden” from the GRAMMY-nominated KPop: Demon Hunters soundtrack, which received five nominations. Following her first U.S. headline tour in 2025, Nuna expanded her reach internationally with debut performances across Japan, Korea, and Australia, while also launching an educational equity initiative in partnership with COACH Foundation and City Year. She is currently channeling that momentum into her work on a third studio album.