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'Arcane' redirects here. For the setting, see Arcane (Universe). For more uses, see Arcane (disambiguation).

Arcane logo icon Arcane (titled onscreen as Arcane: League of Legends) is an animated action-adventure series created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee for Netflix. Produced by Fortiche under the supervision of Riot Games, it is set in the League of Legends icon League of Legends Arcane 2021 profileicon Arcane timeline[1][2], and focuses on several characters from the games, particularly Vi Vi and Jinx Jinx. The series was first released in November 2021. A second season was released on November 9th 2024.

Description[]

Based on the world behind League of Legends, Arcane dives into the delicate balance between the rich, utopian city of Piltover Crest icon Piltover and the seedy, oppressed underground of Zaun Crest icon Zaun. Known across Runeterra as the "city of progress," many of the most brilliant minds call these cities home. But the creation of hextech, a way for any person to control magical energy, threatens that balance. The story follows the origins of two iconic League champions-and the power that will tear them apart. Like the game on which it is based, Arcane is aimed at a "16+" audience and will deal with some more adult subject matter.

Contributions[]

Caitlyn Jayce Jinx Vi Viktor Arcane Promo 01
EditImageReference

Runeterra Crest icon

Video

Arcane (TV Series)

Every legend has a beginning.

This is a summarized list of contributions for the series. For an in-depth credit list, see each episode's page.

Main Cast[5]
Supporting Cast
Additional Voices

Series Producers[7]
Series Writer
Series Production Management
  • Eric Bergman - Post-production supervisor
  • Alyssa Roberts - Production supervisor
  • Cassie Jo Dull - Production manager
Series Art Department
  • Jang Chol Lee - Visual development artist
Series Sound Department
  • Penny Harold - Re-recording mixer
  • Andrew Garrett Lange - Re-recording mixer
Series Special Effects
  • Can Yesilyurt - Special effects technician
Series Visual Effects
  • Rudyard Cretenet - Compositor
  • Philippe Lucini - Lighting artist
  • Nicolas Nepveu - Visual effects producer
  • Primault Quentin - Digital compositor
  • Kevin Vernet - Cfx artist: Fortiche
Series Animation Department
  • Maxime Delalande - Animator
  • John Clark - Head of layout
Series Casting Department
  • Terri Douglas - Adr voice casting
Series Music Department
  • Can Yesilyurt - Music editor
Series Script and Continuity Department
Series Additional Crew
  • Ethan Hubbert - Production coordinator

Episodes[]

The series has one season (9 episodes) with the second season currently airing.

Soundtracks[]

Arcane currently has two soundtracks released for the series: Arcane: Original Soundtrack and Arcane: Original Score (divided into 3 Acts). These soundtracks were released on payed music sites such as Amazon Music, Spotify, as well as free on YouTube.

Development[]

Season 1[]

Pitched by Linke and Yee in around 2014-2015, everything from planning and starting up the project to the overall writing, production, and animation took around six years before its eventual release.[8][9][10][11] With this being the company's first foray into this media format, Riot Games decided to have Arcane developed internally and independently financed,[12] though initially through the collaboration of Linke and Yee with artists they've worked with before they began to receive more funding from Riot.[10]

Riot's then Global Head of Entertainment Businesses and Partnerships Jarred Kennedy worked with a creative team of writers (including Linke and Yee) in Los Angeles. The series was produced with and animated by Fortiche Productions, a French animation and creative production studio based in Paris that has worked with Riot on various videos for its champions in the past.[12] The voice actors came in early in the production process,[9][13] but majority of the main cast was only announced years later on September 21st, 2021.[14][15]

The series was announced on October 15th, 2019 as part of the League of Legends 10th anniversary celebrations,[12][16] with Riot Games' CEO Nicolo Laurent stating that they have plans for Arcane to have multiple seasons.[17] Original slated for a 2020 release,[12] the show was delayed to 2021 due to COVID-19-related difficulties.[18] On May 3rd, 2021, it was announced that the show has been picked up by Netflix for international release and by Tencent Video in China with a fall release date.[19][20] On September 25th, 2021, the release date for the first 3 episodes was revealed to be November 6th, 2021.[21]

Though the events of the series are heavily based on the established lore of the game, some differences have already been noted in the series. Creators Christian Linke and Alex Lee have shared that the changes are not necessarily retcons but are "adjustments in order to give [the viewers] the best story possible". Though working to make Arcane as consistent as possible with canon, as of 2021, he doesn't "think [they] would be considered a source of truth over the game", adding that they are taking into consideration the reaction of the fans, the current setup of Riot and its games, as well as the updates and changes to the characters.[22]

On January 29th, 2022, Thomas 'Wikingham' Cunningham, Senior Manager of Narrative Editing for League of Legends, would state in an interview with Polygon that "Their stories and their designs in Arcane are intentionally different from the Jayce and Viktor you see in-game, specifically to fit the show. So, it’s unlikely that we will make major changes to League of Legends’ Jayce and Viktor to match 1:1 with Arcane’s," when asked if any of these changes will eventually be consolidated into the game’s canon at large. Based on his response at the time, Arcane 2021 profileicon Arcane and Runeterra Map profileicon League of Legends were separate entities, with the former drawing heavy influences from the latter, but ultimately deviating to better support the show.[23]

On February 16th 2023, Andrei 'Meddler' van Roon, the Head of League Studio, stated that Riot was going to be more "thoughtful" and "deliberate" about making a "consistent and cohesive wider Runeterran experience", in reference to the lore of League of Legends being inconsistent across different mediums.[24] When asked how this approach to narrative cohesiveness would affect Arcane, he noted that Riot wants to "get to a state where Arcane, LoL, LoR etc are all clearly building in the same canon".[25] On October 12th, 2023, Laura 'poisonpixxi' DeYoung, Head of IP Creative for Riot Games, elaborated on their new approach to narrative cohesiveness by explaining that there would be one shared canon moving forward and confirmed that Arcane was part of that canon.[26][27] Andrei van Roon would also note that the origin of hextech in Arcane would be the new origin going forward and champions related to it would be adjusted to match.

Season 2[]

Following the season's conclusion on November 20th, 2021, Riot Games and Netflix announced that a second season was in production.[28][29][30] On November 9th, 2023, Netflix announced that season 2 would premiere in November 2024 at Geeked Week 2023.[31] On November 12th, 2023, series co-creator Christian 'Praeco' Linke noted that a "song that everyone on the team absolutely LOVES for a particular scene" created by a "(very big) artist" for specific moment was in development for the second season. However, because Riot could not guarantee a marketing campaign that would elevate it above the other songs in the soundtrack, the record label would likely not allow them to use it.[32] On July 4th, 2024, Christian confirmed they were able to work it out with the artist and use the song in season 2.[33] On January 5th, 2024, Riot premiered a clip of season 2 as part of League of Legends' Season 2024 commencement event and announced that Ambessa Medarda would be released as champion in League of Legends and Wild Rift later in the year, as well as an update for a champion that would be featured in season 2.[34][35]

On June 11th, 2024, Riot premiered a teaser trailer for season 2, as well as a message from series co-creator Christian 'Praeco' Linke. Christian revealed that the story of Arcane would end with the second season, however, he also noted that Arcane was the beginning of Riot's storytelling journey and partnership with Fortiche and announced that they were working together on new projects across film and television.[36]

On July 21st, 2024, Paul 'Pabro' Bellezza, Executive Producer of League of Legends and former Director of Creative Game Production for League Studio, confirmed that Heimerdinger would be releasing in Wild Rift's 5.3 patch in celebration of Arcane Season 2. In addition, he also premiered a clip from season 2 featuring Heimerdinger and Ekko.[37]

On September 5th, 2024, Riot premiered the official trailer for season 2, along with the reveal of the first song of the season 2 original soundtrack, Paint the Town Blue featuring Ashnikko.[38] On September 12th 2024, the remaining artists featured in the season 2 original soundtrack including Woodkid, Mako, Tom Morello, Twenty One Pilots, King Princess, and more.[39] On September 20th, 2024, Netflix premiered another trailer at Geeked Week 2024 and revealed that season 2 would release in 3 acts on November 9, November 16, and November 23. Ella Purnell and Hailee Steinfeld also announced that they were filming an after-show named Arcane Afterglow that would break down each act of season 2 and share behind the scenes info with series co-creator Christian Linke.[40]

Marketing and Release[]

Season 1[]

Riot Games promoted the launch of Arcane through multiple events.

During the 2021 League of Legends icon League of Legends Worlds Championship, the opening for the finale was Arcane themed. Several musicians such as Imagine Dragons, JID, Denzel Curry, Bea Miller, and PVRIS all performed through pre-recorded performances on stages that blended practical sets with digital effects. Two songs performed, "Welcome to the Playground" and "Enemy", would later reappear in the show.

Through RiotX Arcane, Riot promoted the show within their own games such as League of Legends icon League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra icon Legends of Runeterra, Teamfight Tactics icon Teamfight Tactics, Wild Rift icon Wild Rift, and Valorant icon Valorant.[41] They also did promotional collaborations with non-Riot games such as PUBG MOBILE[42], Fortnite[43], Among Us[44], and Magic: The Gathering[45].

Riot promoted the show with a Arcane themed cafe (with its own exclusive cafe merch) and art exhibition hall in South Korea.[46][47] It lasted a week before the global premiere of the show. Similarly, the show was promoted in cities like New York (US), Moscow (Russia), Rio de Janeiro (Brasil), and Dubai (UAE). This was done with Arcane billboards scattered across the city on buildings and advertisement covers on metro trains. In case of Dubai, the Burj Khalifa was lit up with an Arcane themed projections that lasted several minutes.[48]

Several Arcane themed murals popped-up in cities like: Barcelona (Spain)[49]; Gdynia, Katowice, Warsaw, Wrocław (Poland)[50]; Prague (Czechia)[51].

On November 6th, 2021, for the global premiere, Riot Games hosted a live event at their headquarters. Numerous actors from the show, show developers, Riot employees, and popular fan content creators were invited to participate in the premier of the first episode. Riot streamed this event and the first episode on Twitch. Some content creators were allowed to co-stream (as well as interview several Riot employees and co-creators of Arcane before the episode premiered[52]) the first three episodes of the series once they received permission from Riot Games, a first for a Netflix series, which also allowed viewers to retrieve in-game drops during the premiere.[53] Drops were only included in the games League of Legends icon League of Legends (Arcane Capsule), Wild Rift icon Wild Rift ("A Single Tear" Emote), Teamfight Tactics icon Teamfight Tactics (Gizmos & Gadgets Little Legends Egg), Legends of Runeterra icon Legends of Runeterra (Fascinating LoR Emote "Fascinating" Emote), and Valorant icon Valorant ("Fishbones" Gun Buddy).[54] The premiere received 1.8 million concurrent viewers on Twitch.

In conjunction with RiotXArcane, between the airing of Act 2 and Act 3, Riot hosted a live event called Undercity Nights.[55] During that event guests were able to enjoy their night in a bar created to resemble the Last Drop from the show.[56] The live event had a two-day broadcast, featuring live competitions from Riot's games as well as discussions from within a recreated Last Drop Office room. On both days of the broadcast was co-streamable to all content creators and watchable on Twitch and YouTube. A second chance to earn Twitch Drops from Arcane's Premiere were enabled during the broadcast of this event.[57]

Additional details about Chem-Barons companies were released on the Enter the Undercity live event site, which was tied to the Undercity Nights live party event.[58][59][60][61][62] During the Enter the Undercity event, several cosplayers were hired by Riot to play characters from the show, as well as others made for the event itself. Additionally, several previously unnamed characters from the show had their names revealed through this cosplaying event, such as the chem-baroness Margot Margot, and thugs Aero Aero and Lock Lock.[63]

Other marketing endeavors included an Arcane filter on TikTok,[64] a dance in Just Dance 2023 featuring Jinx and Playground by Bea Miller,[65][66] Arcane themed candy bars by Compartés Chocolatier,[67] and a partnership with Rihanna's Fenty Beauty line.[68]

The first season was released in three installments ("Acts") with 3 episodes each.[69] Episodes are roughly 40 minutes long.[70]

On July 19th, 2024, Riot announced in collaboration with GKIDS Films, the pre-order for the physical blu-ray release of Arcane Season 1.[71] On July 22nd, 2024, Riot announced the pre-order for The Art and Making of Arcane, an art book published by Insights Edition that details the development of Arcane Season 1 and 2.[72] On July 26th, 2024, Riot announced the pre-order for the vinyl of Arcane Season 1's original soundtrack.[73]

Season 2[]

Reception[]

The show was critically acclaimed from critics and viewers alike.[74]

Accolades[]

Trivia[]

  • Series co-creator, Christian 'Praeco' Linke, also composed Vi Vi and Jinx's Jinx's themes.
  • The show was named Arcane due to magic tying the world of Runeterra together, with every region and champion having a different relationship to it.[97]
  • The show was independently financed by Riot which, according to Jarred Kennedy, Riot's global head of IP businesses and partnerships, gave the studio “the creative oversight that we needed.”[98]
  • The series will be most appealing to those who are already familiar with the mythology of the game and want to further explore its roots. Riot co-founder Brandon 'Ryze' Beck told The Hollywood Reporter: “Originally, League started off with a bunch of characters and we threw them together really quickly. Over time, players became really attached to the characters and we wanted to build more of a universe around them [with Arcane].”
  • To promote the series, League of Legends icon League of Legends released a slew of new features in the Into the Arcane event, codenamed trueshot internally.


Media[]

Imagine_Dragons_&_JID_-_Enemy_(from_the_series_Arcane_League_of_Legends)_-_Official_Music_Video

Imagine Dragons & JID - Enemy (from the series Arcane League of Legends) - Official Music Video

Related Music

Arcane_Season_2_-_Nothing_to_Lose_-_Official_Clip_-_Geeked_Week_-_Netflix

Arcane Season 2 - Nothing to Lose - Official Clip - Geeked Week - Netflix

Related Videos


Links[]

Notes

  1. Arcane released in groups of 3 episodes, called acts.

References

  1. Champs, Lore & More | Dev Update - League of Legends - YouTube
  2. Reply on Reddit by Riot Meddler
  3. Arcane Voice Cast
  4. Arcane Season 2 Voice Cast
  5. Arcane Latin America Spanish Voice Cast
  6. Arcane Brazilian Portuguese Voice Cast
  7. Arcane IMDb Contributions
  8. How ‘League of Legends’ was made into a Netflix TV show — The Washington Post
  9. 9.0 9.1 'The questions that need to be asked in the face of conflict': A conversation with the co-creators of Arcane — Inven Global
  10. 10.0 10.1 ‘Arcane,’ the new ‘League of Legends’ Netflix series, shows Riot Games’ ‘black licorice’ strategy — Los Angeles Times
  11. ... you won’t have to wait for 6 years (the time it took us to making season 1)" — Nicolo Laurent (@niiicolo) on Twitter
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Riot Games Developing Animated Series Based on ‘League of Legends’ — The Hollywood Reporter
  13. On voice actors and musicians of Arcane: ‘They were not quite as big at that time’ — ONE Esports
  14. ‘Arcane’: Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell & Kevin Alejandro Among Voice Cast For Netflix ‘League Of Legends’ Animated Series — Deadline
  15. "Meet the cast of ARCANE (@arcaneshow) — Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) on Twitter
  16. Arcane: Animated Series Announcement | Riot Pls: 10th Anniversary Edition - League of Legends on YouTube
  17. "We are committed to Arcane for multiple seasons." — Nicolo Laurent (@niiicolo) on Twitter
  18. An Update on Arcane - League of Legends
  19. Arcane Netflix Trailer
  20. ‘Arcane’: Netflix Sets ‘League of Legends’ Animated Series From Riot Games — Deadline
  21. Arcane Netflix Final Trailer
  22. Arcane creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee on the new League of Legends animated series — UnGeek
  23. League of Legends’ multiverse has made its canon more confusing - Polygon
  24. Champions, Lore, Modes & More
  25. Riot Meddler on Arcane Being Canon
  26. Champs, Lore & More | Dev Update - League of Legends
  27. poisonpixxi Confirms Arcane is Canon
  28. Nicolo on Arcane Season 2
  29. "Season 2 of Arcane is now in production." — Arcane (@arcaneshow) on Twitter
  30. ‘Arcane’ Renewed For Season 2 By Netflix — Deadline
  31. Arcane Season 2 November 2024
  32. Praeco on Song Development for Arcane
  33. Praeco confirms being able to use the song
  34. Season 2024 Look Ahead: Champions, Modes, Arcane & More
  35. Dev Update: One Runeterra & Arcane Season 2
  36. Gameplay, Esports & Arcane | Dev Update - League of Legends
  37. Dev Update: Heightened Hexperience
  38. Arcane: Season 2 | Official Trailer
  39. Arcane Season 2 Artists Reveal
  40. Geeked Week 2024: Live Showcase ft. Squid Game, Arcane, One Piece & More | Netflix
  41. Welcome to RiotX Arcane
  42. Runeterra Enters PUBG Mobile to celebrate RiotX Arcane
  43. Fortnite Gets Jinxed to celebrate Arcane
  44. Innersloth- Announcing: The Among Us x Arcane Cosmicube!
  45. Secret Lair x Arcane | Secret Lair
  46. Riot promotes new animated Netflix series with Arcane themed cafe; Win.gg
  47. Arcane Art Exhibition Hall, South Korea
  48. Arcane: Lighting Up the Dubai Skyline | Burj Khalifa Video
  49. Arcane Mural in Barcelona, Spain
  50. Arcane Murals in Poland
  51. Arcane Mural in Prague, Czechia
  52. Necrit Interviews Marc Merill & The Co-Creators of Arcane
  53. Riot to broadcast Arcane premiere on Twitch, exclusive in-game drops available to all viewers
  54. Arcane premiere drops guide: How to unlock free watch rewards via Twitch
  55. Undercity Nights Takes Over
  56. League of Legends Netflix series Arcane gets a grown-up immersive theater playpen; Los Angeles Times
  57. Global Undercity Nights Broadcast Co-Streaming and Rewards
  58. Enter the Undercity site
  59. The Hush Company advertisement text - Enter the Undercity
  60. Slickjaws advertisement text - Enter the Undercity
  61. Sludgerunners & The Vyx advertisement texts - Enter the Undercity
  62. The Scrap Hackers advertisement text - Enter the Undercity
  63. Enter the Undercity cast - Imgur
  64. TikTok Arcane Filter
  65. Arcane Just Dance Jinx
  66. Just Dance Playground
  67. Riot partners with chocolate company, Compartés Chocolatier, for Arcane
  68. Riot Games Has Partnered With Rihanna's Fenty Beauty To Celebrate Arcane's Launch
  69. Arcane Release Schedule
  70. Praeco on Arcane Length
  71. Arcane Season 1 DVD Announcement
  72. Arcane Art Book Announcement
  73. Arcane Vinyl Announcement
  74. Arcane: League of Legends: Season 1 — Rotten Tomatoes
  75. 27th Imaging Society’s Lumiere Awards
  76. 49th Annie Awards Arcane Nominations
  77. Arcane winning in all its Annie Award Nominations - Twitter
  78. 49th Annie Award Arcane - Best TV/Media - General Audience Announcement - Twitter
  79. 49th Annie Award Arcane - Best FX - TV/Media Announcement - Twitter
  80. 49th Annie Award Arcane - Best Character Animation - TV/Media Announcement - Twitter
  81. 49th Annie Award Arcane - Best Character Design - TV/Media Announcement - Twitter
  82. 49th Annie Award Arcane - Best Direction Announcement - Twitter
  83. 49th Annie Award Arcane - Best Production Design - TV/Media Announcement - Twitter
  84. 49th Annie Award Arcane - Best Storyboarding Announcement - Twitter
  85. 49th Annie Award Arcane - Best Voice Acting - TV/Media Announcement - Twitter
  86. 49th Annie Award Arcane - Best Writing - TV/Media Announcement - Twitter
  87. 69th Golden Reel Awards Arcane Nominations
  88. Golden Reel Awards 2022 Winners List: Motion Picture Sound Editors... - Deadline
  89. 69th Annual Golden Reel Awards Arcane - Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Non-Theatrical Animation - Twitter
  90. 74th Primetime Emmy (2022) - Emmys wins in Outstanding Individual Achievements in Animation - The Hollywood Reporter
  91. Outstanding Animated Program - 2022 - 74th Emmy Awards - Emmys
  92. Winning the Emmy for 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎. - Twitter
  93. HCA TV Awards 2022: The Winners - DiscussingFilm
  94. 'ARCANE' wins Best Streaming Animated Series at the HCATVAwards - Twitter
  95. The Game Awards 2022 - Arcane: League of Legends wins Best Adaptation - Twitter
  96. The Game Awards Sets 2022 Date, Introduces Best Adaptation Category - Deadline
  97. Praeco on Arcane's Name
  98. Arcane Hollywood Reporter Article
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