The real reason Netflix canceled Arcane

Arcane is one of the greatest animated series of all time, a stunning piece of animation and a truly epic video game adaptation. Just as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse pushed the medium forward on the feature film side, Arcane also challenged what was possible in TV animation while also being one of the best video game adaptations of all time.

Based on the wildly popular gaming phenomenon “League of Legends,” the show portrays the origin story of several characters from the game, focusing on the story of Vi and Jinx, two sisters who are on opposite sides of a conflict between the utopian Piltover and the Utopians Piltover are trapped in Zaun's oppressed underground. The first season of Arcane was an instant success. At the time of its release, it became Netflix's highest-rated series, garnering great reviews and becoming the first streaming show to win the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (while also winning three other Emmy awards).

Despite all this, “Arcane” is coming to an end after just two seasons. The news left fans speechless and wondering why such a popular show would end so quickly. Ultimately, the first season felt like the beginning of a much larger universe, a franchise that could bring the many stories and characters of League of Legends to life. (The game has an extensive backstory and includes dozens of characters with unique backstories.)

According to Variety, “Arcane” was originally planned and budgeted for a five-season arc, but now parent company and “League of Legends” developer Riot Games has ceased its entertainment production. Additionally, Variety reports that the 18 episodes of Arcane's two seasons cost the studio $250 million to produce and market, making it by far the most expensive animated series ever developed.

It's no secret that Arcane had the budget of an animated film – the series took six years to produce, most of which was devoted to development (a rare luxury in modern animation) – but that's a ridiculous one Sum. Additionally, sources familiar with the production report that Riot Games spent $60 million of its own money to promote the first season of “Arcane,” which, according to Variety, is far more than what Netflix itself spent put out the show. Admittedly, this helped make the series a massive hit that everyone on the planet was talking about, but considering Riot Games already has a gaming landscape with multiple games and millions of users that could serve as free advertising , this feels excessive.

This is part of what Variety's report describes as a very painful and extremely costly series of inexperienced problems for the gaming giant, which was also trying to become an entertainment company. Shortly before the release of the first season of Arcane, Riot Games' then-CEO Nicolo Laurent promised that he would make the company the “entertainment company of the 21st century” (via FastCompany). But despite attempts to expand the film to theaters and television, that effort only resulted in “Arcane,” and as Variety's report notes, there isn't really anything else that could even come close. “While various writers came and went, not a single commissioned script came close to being greenlit as a pilot or even advanced enough to sign any directors or stars,” the report said.

What's worse: In 2023, Laurent left the company. According to Variety, in his absence, Riot Games' entertainment division was essentially disbanded.

As for “Arcane,” you might be surprised (not really) that the exorbitant budget won’t result in big profits (or any profits at all). Riot gets $3 million per episode in royalties from Netflix (including $3 million per episode in China from Tencent), but even with skin sales and merchandise (which wasn't available when the first season came out) it's enough that may not be enough to break even.

The first three episodes of the second and final season of “Arcane” will be released on Netflix on November 9, 2024, followed by another three episodes on November 16 and the final three episodes on November 23.