As the release date for Arcane’s second season approaches, a recent report from Variety revealed the record-breaking budget required to bring the series to life.
Arcane is an animated series created by the global gaming company Riot Games. The show is an adaptation of the lore from Riot’s internationally acclaimed game franchise, League of Legends. The first season and the upcoming second season follow the story of two sisters, Powder and Vi, as they are drawn into the class conflict between the cities of Piltover and Zaun. The second season concludes their story, though additional tales set in the world of Runeterra are planned for the future.
According to Variety, both seasons of Arcane collectively cost over $250 million to produce. This enormous budget has secured Arcane‘s status as one of the most expensive animated TV shows ever made for streaming or cable.
Sources told Variety that the first and second seasons, each comprising nine episodes, cost Riot Games around $180 million, with an additional $60 million allocated to advertising. Although the high budget raised eyebrows, Riot Games executives saw these costs as essential to the company’s entry into the entertainment industry.
Riot co-founder and chief product officer Marc Merrill, Riot Games co-founder and chief product officer, shared with Variety the company’s learning curve in its journey as an entertainment studio.
“Our ambitions in entertainment haven’t changed,” said Merrill. “We never intended to operate like a traditional studio with conventional timelines. What did change, as we learned more, was our expectations of ourselves: We realized that getting it right takes a lot more time than we’d originally expected, so we recalibrated our development goals and teams accordingly.”
“I understand why that change might feel to some like we’re moving away from our aspirations in entertainment, but that’s absolutely not the case,” he continued. “We have projects in development and are as excited as ever about the possibilities in TV and film.”
Arcane’s second season is set to premiere on Netflix on November 9.
