Riot Games co-founder responded to reports labeling the Arcane League of Legends series a “financial miss.”
According to Bloomberg, Arcane’s two seasons had a staggering production and marketing cost of $250 million but fell short of driving sufficient gaming revenue for Riot, despite its widespread popularity on Netflix.
As per Bloomberg, Netflix contributed $3 million per episode for Arcane, while Tencent, Riot’s parent company, added another $3 million per episode to air the series in China.
Together, these amounts covered less than half of the $250 million Riot spent on the project. Between Seasons 1 and 2, Tencent reportedly began pressing Riot with challenging inquiries.
Riot: Arcane Failed to Generate Profit
According to Bloomberg, the goal of Arcane was to attract more players to League of Legends, which would, in turn, boost in-game purchases. Riot profits significantly from selling skins for League of Legends champions, with some costing a huge money.
As per Bloomberg, Riot was unable to leverage the popularity of Season 1 by launching Arcane-alike merchandise, but they had the opportunity to rectify this ahead of Season 2’s release.
Riot acknowledged that while Arcane didn’t generate profit, it should still be viewed as a success.
The company noted that the recent month marked one of their most lucrative periods, and they anticipate the second season will at least cover its costs.
Marc Merrill, co-founder of Riot, has simply clarified having the conversation on Reddit, where he addressed the ongoing discussions within the League of Legends community.
Merrill responded, saying, “People who view things with a short-term, often struggle to understand Riot. This has been the case with those who doubted the success of free-to-play games, esports, and our music, and now they’re claiming that Arcane wasn’t a great success or worth it.”
Merrill pointed out, “The audience mostly think we produce projects like Arcane solely to sell skins, but the truth is, we sell skins to fund creative endeavors like Arcane. Riot is a mission-driven company, focused on continuously improving the player experience.”
He further added, “Our success across various games and industries—be it gaming, sports, music, or animation—comes from this mindset. We don’t always get everything perfect, but our goal isn’t short-term profit. We’re dedicated to providing lasting value to our audience.
Arcane: A Massive Win for Players
He emphasized, “Arcane was a massive win for the players, and that’s why it was a win for us too.”
Merrill stands by the value of Arcane for Riot, emphasizing that the investment was justified, even though he doesn’t challenge Bloomberg’s findings. When a Reddit user claimed that Arcane didn’t generate enough profit for more animated spin-offs, Merrill replied, “Except it was.”
Despite the financial concerns, fans are hopeful for more League of Legends animated series. Christian Linke, Riot’s creative director and the showrunner of Arcane, recently revealed that future projects will explore three additional regions of Runeterra: Demacia, Ionia, and Noxus.
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