While Arcane Season 2 garnered strong critical acclaim, similar to its first season, a new report reveals that the steep production costs were a major factor in Riot Games‘ hasty departure from Hollywood.
The visually impressive Arcane League of Legends series was undoubtedly designed keeping the game’s fans in mind, though Riot Games likely expected it to boost engagement with the game and their broader offerings.
While Arcane’s 2nd season received a generally positive response, it faced some fan backlash, with viewers feeling it was rushed. The creators later issued an apology against the undesired episode.
An entirely new finding explores Riot’s nuanced reaction to the series’ success and challenges, highlighting how Arcane led the company to reconsider its future plans in Hollywood.
A Stunning High-Cost Series
Bloomberg’s report reveals that Riot had a lot riding on Arcane. To guarantee the series’ high quality, the company chose to self-finance, that resulted in two widely praised seasons, including an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. Despite this success, Riot invested approximately $250 million into both the seasons.
If you look at the cost factor, it’s somewhat reduced by distribution partnerships with Netflix and Tencent in China. Both of them have agreed to pay almost $3 million for each episode.
The above payments further expected to cover way less than half of the overall expenses.
A Riot spokesperson shared in the report that “Arcane has been a success by our internal standards,” and mentioned that the second season is “expected to at least break even financially.
The lack of profitability is simply traced to challenges in creating tie-ins for League of Legends.
Paul Bellezza, the producer, confessed, “We were caught off guard by the success of season one,” and recognized that this led to missed chances for in-game activations.
Although the expensive Arcane series may not lead to financial losses for Riot, there will be no 3rd season, as the creators have confirmed that the two seasons already told a complete story.
Furthermore, after a year that saw almost 11% of Riot’s workforce laid off, the report indicates that the company is steadily shifting its focus away from major Hollywood projects and back toward its gaming roots.
The above shift clearly seems to be a part of a broader retreat by the company, which had expanded its entertainment team in 2020, bringing in Shauna Spenley from Netflix to strengthen its ties to the entertainment world.
Since then, Spenley and some major personalities are known to have left, and the company now concentrating on its main gaming values.
A Riot representative shared with Bloomberg, “Our primary focus is on fostering long-term player engagement. Riot has always been dedicated to creating games and experiences that players will continue to enjoy, and Arcane simply fits into that larger vision.”
In fact, it’s a great outcome for all the League of Legends fans. Meanwhile Riot is careful not to criticize Arcane series they still highly praise and could potentially expand with future projects.
The massive financial commitment that didn’t significantly boost their core business likely played a role in their decision to return to their core focus.
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