Summary
Arcanewas a massive hit on Netflix and the people behind it were already working on multiple spin-offs. However, a new report claimed that it didn’t make much money.
Arcaneis an animated series inspired byLeague of Legends. It aired for two seasons on Netflix, and the audience loved it. While it received critical acclaim for its visuals and compelling story, it allegedly didn’t deliver in the financial department. A report from Bloomberg suggested that it was a “financial miss” because Riot Games spent too much on it, but it didn’t attract newLeague of Legendsplayers. The outlet added that Riot had no “robust plan to recoup the cost of the show,” which cost them $250 million for two seasons.
Riot co-founder Marc Merrill broke his silence about the issue and took to Reddit to air their side. According to him, their plan toproduceArcanewas way more than making money from it. “People who look at the world through a short-term, transactional, cynical lens, really struggle to understand Riot […] These people think we make things like Arcane to sell skins, when in reality we sell skins to make things likeArcane,” he wrote. Merrill added that “Riot is a mission-driven company” and they have expanded their operations in various mediums, from just games to sports, music and animation. He admitted that they do not get everything right but are focused on bigger things.
We are not focused on the short-term extraction of profits - we are focused on delivering exceptional value to our audience over the long term, again and again and again.
“To be clear,Arcanecrushed for playersand so it crushed for us.” Riot’s spokesperson had also responded to Bloomberg’s report by releasing a statement denying that theArcanewas a financial failure from their perspective. “Arcanewas a success when we look across all our internal measures,” the Riot spokesperson said. According to Bloomberg, Riot used its own resources to produce, develop and market the hit animated TV series. However, they spent so much on it that they didn’t make any profits from the production despite Netflix reportedly paying them $3 million per episode.
The success ofArcanecan be measured in different ways and the money it makes is one of them. SinceRiot Gamessaid it was a “success” for them, they probably used another factor to gauge its victory. Riot Games is brave enough when it comes to expanding its operation. For instance, it launched Riot Forge in December 2019 to grow its brand through spin-off games. However, it only operated for four years since it was shut down in January 2025.
The release of the animated TV seriesArcaneon Netflix is another attempt to diversify their business; now they are onto animation. It’s also another way to introduceLeague of Legendsto new potential players who find the game interesting after watching the show. It’s probably true that Riot hasn’t profited fromArcane, but it’s not the end of the journey; they can capitalize on its success and sell more skins. Many fans are okay with this because they want to show their support for Riot. Whether they make money or not fromArcane, Riot Games is the only one who can say if the project was a financial disaster or not because it’s their business.
Arcane
Cast
Arcane is an animated series developed by Alex Yee and Christian Linke that follows a the story of Piltover and Zaun, two pivotal locations in the League of Legends universe. The first season follows the stories of Jynx and Vi, as well as Jayce and Viktor.
