HEARTSTEEL are back with ‘Live My Life’
Virtual K-POP boyband HEARTSTEEL are back with the track ‘Live My Life’, almost 3 years after their last release ‘Paranoia’. But where are HEARTSTEEL from, and who are the members?
HEARTSTEEL
HEARTSTEEL are a virtual 6-member boy-group created by Riot Games, featuring characters from the popular video game ‘League of Legends’.
The original lineup included:
- Sett – ØZI
- K’Sante – Tobi Lou
- Ezreal – Baekhyun
- Kayn – Cal Scruby
- Aphelios – N/A
- Yone – N/A
However, for the recent comeback, the lineup has changed to:
- Sett – Connor Price
- K’Sante – Anderson .Paak
- Ezreal – Baekhyun
- Kayn – Nic D
- Aphelios – N/A
- Yone – N/A
Following the success of the group K/D/A (standing for Kills/ Deaths/ Assists, and in term game relating to the stats of the player), which were a virtual K-POP girl group formed using characters Ahri, Akali, Evelynn and Kai’Sa, Riot Games decided to form a boy group.
The group’s most recent comeback also coincides with the release of in game skins for the characters in the group.
Virtual groups in K-POP
HEARTSTEEL and K/D/A are not the only virtual groups in the K-POP scene. The most famous virtual group is:
PLAVE —The five members—Yejun, Noah, Bamby, Eunho and Hamin—are represented by motion-captured avatars, with real performers providing their voices and movements.
Their popularity has become substantial: Caligo Pt.1 sold 1,038,308 copies in its first week in February 2025, making it the first virtual-idol album to pass one million first-week sales In 2025, PLAVE sold 2.35 million albums according to Hanteo, and held a solo concert at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome.
Based on this, and the success of K/D/A and HEARTSTEEL, virtual K-POP group are a new wave in K-POP and are here to stay!