Report: Arcane Cost Riot Games $250 Million to Produce
Two nine-episode seasons of the hit-animated series Arcane cost Riot Games $250 million dollars to produce, according to Variety.
Arcane Season 2 is just a few days away as many fans of the show have waited three years to watch the battle between Piltover and Zaun continue. However, one of the most shocking bits of news that came out right before Arcane’s Season 2 debut is the amount of money that went into both the production and marketing for the two seasons. Here is everything that was revealed about the $250 million price tag associated with the League of Legends show's production and what went into the costs.
Arcane Cost Riot Games $250 Million to Produce
According to a n exclusive news report by Variety, Arcane’s 18-episode arc cost Riot Games “$250 million to produce and promote” the popular animated series across its two seasons. Additionally, Variety revealed that the first season’s nine-episode arc equated to “a price tag approaching $100 million” and that they spent nearly “$60 million” promoting the first season of Arcane.
However, while this monetary figure may seem large to produce 18 episodes, the budget also includes all the marketing and various advertising. Regardless, this price point for two seasons makes Arcane a very expensive series to produce.
In an email responding to Variety, Riot co-founder Marc Merill told them the following:
“We were never intending to operate like a traditional studio with traditional timelines,” Merill said. “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, and so we recalibrated our development, output goals and teams with that in mind.”
That being said, Season 2 of Arcane is sure to excite both League and non-League fans as the three year wait to see what happened next will finally be over.
How Many Episodes Are In Arcane Season 2?
Season 2 of Arcane will be nine episodes long!
The second season will be divided into three Acts that will each be released every Saturday at 12pm PT starting November 9, 2024.
Arcane was created by two members of Riot’s player support team, Christian Link and Alex Yee, where the series' initial concept began “six years ago,” according to Fortiche’s Animation lead Alexis Wanneroy, before the series’ eventual late-2021 debut. Since then, Arcane has developed popularity and high praise for its worldbuilding, storytelling, and animations. That level of quality is something Arcane fans will look forward to as the show enters its second season.
Season 2 of Arcane will be released on November 9, 2024, and will be available to watch on Netflix. Arcane fans looking to learn more about the release schedule should be sure to check out our guide detailing everything you need to know about the Arcane Season 2 Premiere. Additionally, fans of both Arcane and League of Legends should also be sure to check out all the Arcane Season 2 Content Rewards available.
Sage got his start in esports as a volunteer writer in 2016 for esports organization, Dignitas. Since then, he has continued to work on his craft as a journalist and reporter for a number of established esports publications, such as esports.gg, Unikrn, Akshon Esports, Howla, The Player’s Lobby, Nerd Street Gamers, and most recently Dot Esports. Now, as a member of Esports Illustrated’s content team, Sage’s primary duties are centered around creating groundbreaking written and video content about the esports industry that impacts the community in a meaningful way. Sage graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and Informatics. There, he was a member of the Rutgers Esports Executive Board, both as the head of the fighting game community and a videographer/photographer for the Content team.