Step aside, Marvel—Riot is now building its Runeterra cinematic universe. Its League of Legends animated series titled Arcane took the world by storm when it premiered on Netflix last November 6, even overtaking the hit Korean drama Squid Game on global charts. Following that astoundingly successful premiere, Riot executives revealed that more League of Legends shows are already on the table.
Arcane premieres on Netflix, to smashing worldwide success
When Arcane dropped its first three episodes on Netflix, no one could have predicted it to become an instant hit—and how it even spread surprisingly far beyond the gaming community. The League of Legends show has slotted into the #1 spot in over 30 countries this week. Even Riot might not have anticipated such an immense audience reception, though perhaps all the promotions across the different platforms have paid their dividends.
The developers heavily promoted Arcane in League of Legends, which is where the story takes place and where the characters come from. Besides skins, Riot even launched Arcane-themed contents in other Riot titles and pursued crossovers with other games like Fortnite. They even organized a whole real-life immersive experience in Los Angeles.
Set in the Runeterra, Arcane dives into League champion lore, exploring the backstories of Piltover characters Vi and Jinx (or Powder, as she's known earlier on). Other familiar characters include Caitlyn, Viktor, Jayce, Singed, Heimerdinger, and more.
What's next after Arcane?
With Arcane‘s success on Netflix, Shauna Spenley, Riot's President of Entertainment, confirmed in an interview with the LA Times that there is “more to come” in terms of League of Legends series and the larger Runeterra world. While these plans have already been set in motion, Spenley didn't quite specify what exactly fans can expect.
Of course, we can easily speculate and imagine that given Arcane‘s success, a second season or a sequel (or prequel) wouldn't be out of the question. For sure, fans can look forward to seeing other League champions heading to the small screen (or even the big screen!). Players will know just how extensive the lore already is, and translating that into video entertainment could be very enticing indeed.
“We have a huge opportunity to build amazing organic stories inside this world [Runeterra] and for [these stories] to quietly build and…define a generation,” Spenley said. “We’ll be here a while. It’s going to take a little time.”
To create stories that really “resonate”, the Riot executive affirms that the team will be doing its best to build the new media content in the right way, whether animated shows or live-action movies. They will continue to focus on rich media that will tug at the hearts of long-time League fans. And if that sparks the intrigue of the general public as well, then Riot can perhaps soon enjoy a larger fanbase and an expanding Runeterra cinematic universe in its own right.
“Players are looking for elements they can identify with. We’re trying to figure out how to recreate that as we step into live-action and other stories,” Spenley shared.
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