Initially known for his heavier bass-centric production, Robinson became increasingly dissatisfied with the electronic dance music (EDM) genre, believing it limited his artistic expression.

He was inspired by media that evoked nostalgia for his childhood, and wrote music integrating elements taken from anime, films, and sounds from 1990s video games.

The album was preceded by four singles: "Sea of Voices", "Sad Machine", "Lionhearted", and "Flicker", and promoted with a tour in North America and Europe.

Worlds was well received by most critics, who praised it as innovative and forecasted a promising career for Robinson, though others felt the record lacked coherence or was unexciting.

[17] Robinson moved to his parents' home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and spent a year revisiting soundtracks of Nintendo 64 video games from the 1990s and 2000s.

He admired the worlds these games – Star Wars Galaxies (2003) in particular[4][24] – provided and was affected by how dwindling player bases and bankruptcies eventually brought them offline.

[29] By emulating the "slight[ly] sad vibe" of the stories that inspired him, Robinson wanted to give the album a retrospective and emotional atmosphere.

[23] Daft Punk's Discovery (2001), an album Robinson considers the best of all time, was his biggest influence for the record, with Kanye West's Graduation (2007) in second.

[35] Conversely, Buerger wrote that bass drops and dance-like rhythms were substituted by "delicate chord progressions and deep, forceful synths".

[33] Barry Walters of Wondering Sound wrote that, in contrast to the typically higher tempos of EDM, much of Worlds is at a lower, ballad-like speed.

[36] Worlds opens with "Divinity", which contains vocals by Canadian singer Amy Millan, from the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene.

[38] Barry Walters of Wondering Sound said that it features common characteristics of EDM, such as a powerful beat, dense layers of synthesizers, and an airy female vocal,[36] while Elissa Stolman of Vice described the track as an indie-electronic "festival rave anthem", with synths that resembled M83's "Midnight City" (2011).

[40] Describing it as a "duet between a lonely robot girl and the human boy",[40] Robinson employed Avanna, a Vocaloid voice, as the song's lead singer.

[5] Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork considered it one among other tracks on Worlds which resembled the "high-wire synth-pop fantasias" of Passion Pit, as it contained a mid-tempo instrumental and "starry-eyed melodic structure".

[30] Stolman described it as a "coiled, metallic guitar squall" which goes to "midrange bass grit" culminating in a heavenly breakdown with melancholy robotic vocals.

Stolman described the track as one of the safest of the album, containing natural vocals as opposed to "Sad Machine" and "Fresh Static Snow", as well as calmer synths.

Robinson enjoyed the track due to its intelligent dance music passages inspired by artists such as Aphex Twin and Venetian Snares.

[37] Stolman commented that, despite its driving bass, sharp drum hits, vocal fragments, and sparkling keys, the track could be called minimal in the context of the album.

[37] Sharon O'Connell of Uncut felt that the opening section was reminiscent of chamber music,[35] that was described by Villa as "cinematic"[42] and Walters as "symphonic".

[5][40] Though originally intending "Flicker" to be the album's second single, Robinson changed it to "Sad Machine" three days beforehand, which he claimed caused "mayhem" at the label.

[52][53] The single was officially released on June 17, accompanied by a music video in which Mixmag's Carré Orenstein described Robinson and a group of women "wreak[ing] havoc around the city streets, resulting in an eruption of [color]".

[32][33][42] Lucas Villa of AXS felt that Robinson exceeded expectations by crafting a complete experience, venturing boldly into uncharted territory for DJs,[42] while Garrett Kamps of Spin said that "it's pretty hard to deny this kid has done something amazing, no matter what you call it".

She described the album as "ideal headphone music",[33] while Rolling Stone's Elissa Stolman wrote that it "manages to retain the thrilling rush of emotions that the best raves inspire", despite not fully sounding like EDM.

[43] Las Vegas Weekly writer Mike Prevatt wrote that the album was "a necessary crosscurrent to the swells of EDM" even if it did not catalyze a new musical trend.

[10][17][35] Andy Kellman of AllMusic felt that it was clear Robinson was yet to become accustomed to creating music outside the context of raves due to the album's "several clumsier moments".

[17] While Pitchfork's Larry Fitzmaurice did not find Worlds's style to be inventive, he admired the transition Robinson was making and wrote that his career seemed "extremely promising".

[39] Some reviewers thought that the record lacked coherence;[30][70] Consequence of Sound's Derek Staples felt that while reinventing EDM was a noble idea, Robinson's execution was weak, and Worlds more resembled a "remix compilation" than a proper album.

[31][36] Samuel Tolzmann of Spectrum Culture wrote that Worlds ultimately embraces generic conventions and that the expectation for the album to redefine the genre highlighted more about the stagnation of this style of EDM than Robinson's music's complexity or creativity.

"[3] Similarly, Kat Bein of Billboard said that the album influenced "a generation of producers to make pretty, emotional dance music", as well as attempt live performances.

[81][82] As a result of the album's positive reception, Robinson had set high expectations for himself,[83] stating in 2018 that he felt significant pressure to create something similar to a follow-up.