Arcane Was Worth The Money

Key Takeaways

• Riot’s League of Legends adaptation Arcane cost $250 million for 2 seasons, making it the most expensive animated TV series ever.
• Arcane’s unique animation style led to massive praise from critics and fans.
• While the series is not expected to turn a profit, Arcane’s success lies in areas that are far more valuable than money.

Arcane is currently airing its second and final season, but a recent report highlighted just how much of a financial cost the series has been for Riot Games.

Arcane is Riot’s first foray into the world of television, with the company having previously collaborated on animated music videos and cinematics featuring its League of Legends characters, but never a fully-fledged adaptation of its game. This all changed when Arcane, a series six years in the making, debuted on Netflix in 2021. Season 2 was announced shortly after, with the series taking a further three years until its release in November 2024. The most common praise for Arcane pertains to its animation style, which blends 2D and 3D styles and pushes the boundaries of both to reach a new level of detail and visual prowess. However, all of this has come at a heavy financial cost.

Arcane’s Production Budget Revealed

In a report by Variety, sources claim the budget for two seasons of Arcane (which spans 18 episodes) will cost Riot approximately $250 million in total. This includes both production and marketing costs, making Arcane by far the most expensive animated TV series of all time. Variety reported that the series would almost certainly not be profitable for Riot, as it recoups only $3 million per episode from Netflix’s worldwide licensing costs and a further $3 million from Tencent for distribution in China. Riot will apparently try and recoup costs via merchandising and League of Legends cosmetics for Season 2, although it’s unclear if even this will allow the series to break even. While Arcane’s $250 million budget may seem eye-watering to many, the reality is that every cent was worth it.

All of Arcane’s Budget Is Visible on the Screen

Arcane has been a pioneer in the animation space, with French animation studio Fortiche creating a visually distinct style that reflects character emotions, imagines a fantasy world, and portrays blockbuster action with a level of detail and care that has rarely been seen before. One need only take a scroll through fan reactions on social media or critic reviews to know that Arcane’s animation style is revered and beloved, and that doesn’t just happen overnight.

By the time Arcane ends, Riot and Fortiche will have spent close to nine years working on the series. Fortiche as a studio had to expand from 15 employees to around 300 to complete animation for Arcane Season 1. Those employees needed to be paid years of wages in order to perfect Arcane’s animation and the results have made Fortiche one of the most visually distinct animation studios working today. Riot’s investment in Fortiche was worth the money, as the studio will no doubt be in demand following Arcane’s end, and Riot will likely get top priority given their existing partnership.

Arcane’s Budget Seems Normal When Compared To Other Blockbusters

Arcane’s $250 million budget also seems insignificant when compared to some of the blockbuster movies made in Hollywood today. For example, 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was reported to have cost $430 million, all for one 2-hour movie. While Jurassic World did manage to turn a profit at the box office, not all big-budget Hollywood films are so lucky. Joker: Folie à Deux was said to have a budget of around $200 million and is expected to be a loss of around $100 million for Warner Bros. In comparison, Arcane’s budget was spent producing 2 seasons worth of content and, while the series may not be profitable for Riot, it has been successful in so many ways beyond just money.

Why Arcane Was A Good Investment For Riot

Arcane has earned a long list of achievements since its debut in 2021. Both Season 1 and 2 of the series have been widely praised by both critics, with each series scoring a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The series has accumulated a massive audience with both seasons of Arcane claiming a spot in Netflix’s Top 10 charts in 88 countries upon release. Arcane has also won a long list of accolades, including nine Annie Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and Best Adaptation at The Game Awards – and that was all just for Season 1.

Perhaps most importantly, Arcane appeals to both League of Legends fans and complete newcomers to the franchise. The series has built an awareness of Riot’s game that may not have been possible without the Netflix adaptation. The release of other video game adaptations like Fallout and The Last of Us had flow-on effects on their source material, with sales of these games skyrocketing around the series’ release. While Riot Games has not released any engagement numbers for League of Legends following Arcane’s release, the series has provided the franchise with a wealth of opportunity. It’s allowed for the roster of champions to be extended (such as the introduction of Ambessa) and for a series of tie-in skins and cosmetics to be released, all of which can provide tangible revenue for Riot, even if the TV series does not.

Riot Shouldn’t Give Up The Entertainment Game

While Arcane will end with Season 2, creatives within Riot have been clear about the company’s commitment to its entertainment offerings. Some suspected that Arcane’s short two-season run was due to its high budget, but rumors of an original five-season plan have since been debunked. League of Legends co-creator Marc Merill also reaffirmed to Variety the company is “more than comfortable with the spend it took to deliver a show that was worthy of our players’ time.” The main issue Riot has now is maintaining Arcane’s level of quality, with Riot’s president Dylan Jadeja revealing that “creating an entertainment portfolio with the standards we hold is… really hard.”

Nevertheless, the gamble paid off the first time for Riot and while Arcane’s budget may have been high, it was not wasted. It paid animators for multiple years to create their art, provided the world with a cutting-edge visual animation style, and resulted in a series that will not be forgotten in a hurry.

Arcane Season 2 will come to an end on Netflix on November 23.