Updated on November 8, 1:41 p.m. (GMT+8): Improved relevancy.
Before becoming the best anime of 2021, Riot Games’ League of Legends award-winning animated series, Arcane, started small in terms of the Arcane budget and manpower.
Premiering on Netflix in November 2021, Arcane quickly received a positive reception inside and outside the LoL community. What many don’t realize is that it took the team six years of dedicated work to bring the stunning animation style and storytelling of season 1 to life, all while navigating the constraints of a limited Arcane budget.
The first episode of the documentary series Arcane Bridging the Rift showed the risks the production team took, as well as the obstacles they overcame to produce the television adaptation of the popular video game.
The initial Arcane budget was US$2,000, reveals Arcane Bridging the Rift
Arcane Bridging the Rift’s pilot episode, “I Only Dream in Risky,” lets fans in on the humble beginnings of Riot Games’ most expensive animated series to date.
The idea of the project started after the release of League of Legends’ Get Jinxed! music video, where Riot Games worked with French animation studio Fortiche Productions. Arcane creator and writer Alex Yee wanted to expand the League of Legends universe outside the game and into long-form narrative content.
“I just always had this sense of obligation to the players,” he said in Arcane Bridging the Rift. “It just felt like we created these characters and players answered us by spending so much time with them and loving them. It just felt like they deserved to have better stories.”
Series showrunner, creator, and writer Christian “Praeco” Linke revealed the hardships they faced during the early stages of the production, where they were only given US$2,000 at the start of the project. Convincing Riot Games co-founders Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill, they were eventually granted a bigger Arcane budget to do test animations and further develop the story.
According to a report by Variety, Riot Games ultimately allocated approximately US$250 million to the Arcane budget for the production and promotion of all 18 episodes across seasons 1 and 2. This makes Arcane the most expensive animated series ever produced in television history.
While Marc didn’t confirm the exact figure of the total Arcane budget, he expressed confidence in their investment.
“We’re more than comfortable with the spend it took to deliver a show that was worthy of our players’ time,” Marc said.
Arcane’s first episode “Welcome to the Playground” took 10 months to make due to the series’ unique animation style, thanks to Fortiche Productions.
“We do a mix of 2D and 3D. The 2D effects are done in 12 images per second, then the animation, it’s 24, like other movies so you have a mix of styles,” explained Fortiche founder Jérôme Combe.
Arcane follows the story of sisters Vi and Jinx, how they lived in Zaun, their ties to Piltover, and how they eventually gained powers.
In March 2022, the show pulled off a clean sweep with nine Annie Awards, winning every category it was nominated in. Awards include Best Writing featuring creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee, and Best Voice Acting by Jinx’s voice actress, Ella Purnell.
In September 2022, Arcane picked up an Emmy award for Outstanding Animated Program, besting other TV shows such as Marvel’s What If…?, The Simpsons, Rick and Morty, and Bob’s Burgers in the Creative Arts category.
Watch the first episode of Arcane Bridging the Rift here:
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