Although the TV series “Arcane” based on League of Legends hit like a bomb, Riot Games did a really bad job with the good piece.
The animated series "Arcane", based on the long-standing MOBA success League of Legends, received excellent reviews from the trade press and viewers. The implementation, the final second season of which was broadcast on Netflix in November, is considered one of the best series of the year and was widely viewed on the streaming service - and yet Riot Games did a lot of bad things with the good piece.
As we already know, "Arcane" is the most expensive animated series of all time, with the two seasons it aired ultimately costing over $250 million. Riot Games itself had to contribute quite a lot of money and ultimately did poorly financially with “Arcane”.
Reason: According to a recently published report byBloombergThe production exceeded the planned budget - and Netflix didn't step in for that. The streaming giant only paid Riot Games $3 million per episode. Tencent, in turn, contributed $3 million to broadcast the show in China.
Riot Games covered the remaining costs itself - and that means less than half of the costs were borne by external partners. For Riot Games, this should also be a bit of a calculation and seen as an investment in the future. The company has ambitious plans to become a broader media giant beyond the gaming sector - and a successful, albeit complex and expensively produced show like "Arcane" should help with this.
The report states that Riot Games essentially had no solid plan in place to recoup the show's overall costs. Accordingly, a Riot spokesperson also commentedBloombergconfirmed that the show itself was not profitable. However, this is offset by the fact that the series has also helped Riot Games' business overall in other ways.
The second trailer for season 2 of the hit series “Arcane” based on League of Legends was released called “Come Play”.
