Key Takeaways
- Arcane is reportedly the most expensive animated show ever created.
- Riot co-founder Marc Merill is “more than comfortable” with the spend.
- The second season of Arcane will be its last.
According to Variety, eighteen episodes of Arcane cost over $250 million to create, though this number hasn’t been confirmed by either Riot Games or Netflix (thanks, GamesRadar+). If these numbers are accurate, this would make Arcane far and away the most expensive animated show ever created.
The first season of Arcane cost around $80 million to produce, with Riot Games spending a further $60 million to promote the show. The second and final season is reported to have cost $100 million. While Arcane was originally intended to have five seasons, the second season will now conclude the show. Riot has hired extensively for its entertainment division, but so far has only produced Arcane with no other projects yet announced.
Splashing Cash
“Our ambitions in entertainment haven’t changed,” wrote Riot co-founder Marc Merrill in an email to Variety, “We were never intending to operate like a traditional studio with traditional timelines. What did change as we learned more was our expectations of ourselves: We realised that getting it right takes a lot more time than we originally expected, and so we recalibrated our development, output goals and teams with that in mind.”
Merrill did not confirm the reported production costs, but did say “We’re more than comfortable with the spend it took to deliver a show that was worthy of our players’ time.” It’s interesting that Merrill specifically mentions League of Legends players in this quote, as Arcane certainly reached a larger audience than those who play the highly popular MOBA. Still, Riot Games’ success in entertainment wouldn’t have been possible without the runaway success of League of Legends.
The first season of Arcane was highly acclaimed, winning four coveted Primetime Emmys, including one for Outstanding Animated Program. The upcoming season of Arcane is set to premiere on Netflix on November 9, continuing the story of a brewing civil war between Piltover and Zaun, and the sisters Jinx (Ella Purnell) and Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) at the centre of it.
The recently released “Come Play” trailer (above) showcases the escalating conflicts between the opposing sides of the city, as well as between the sisters. The characters that appeared in the first season are all set to reappear, along with a couple of new faces.
Set in the League of Legends universe, Arcane focuses on sisters Violet and Powder (later Jinx) as they end up on opposite sides of a growing conflict between the wealthy utopia of Piltover and its dark undercity whose citizens wish to break away from their oppressors. Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, and Kevin Alejandro star in this animated adventure.