The sound comes from Valorant, Riot Games' team-based tactical shooter released in 2020. In matches, players attack or defend sites and can plant the Spike, which the other team must defuse before the round ends. Short game audio cues like this spread quickly in montages, streams and meme edits because they communicate a win condition instantly. The defuse sound remains popular because even non-players can understand it as a tiny signal that a tense problem was resolved just in time.