Riot has decided to invest directly into the French animation studio responsible for the critically-acclaimed Netflix series Arcane.

Calling Arcane successful is an understatement. After all, the League of Legends animated show featuring Jinx, Vi, and Caitlyn, among other League of Legends characters, received near-universal critical acclaim. All awards that the show was nominated for, it won. It has eight Annies and one Golden Reel Award. No animated show in recent history, much less a show based on a video game franchise, has been as decorated as Arcane. Thanks to this, the show was able to get a Season 2 green light from Netflix – a platform notorious for canceling series after just a single season.

But the celebrations don't end there. Thanks to the great work by Arcane's animation studio – French company Fortiche – Riot Games has decided to put their money where their mouth is. Today, Riot Games announced its investment in Fortiche. Pascal Charrue, Jérôme Combe, and Arnaud Delord, co-founders of Fortiche, says about the investment:

“The various collaborations with Riot Games, and especially Arcane, have made Fortiche Production a new major player on the international animation scene. Riot Games, by trusting us, has given us the means to achieve our common ambitions and has shown that it is possible to offer new content that can reach a large audience. In 2023, we will celebrate ten years of collaboration: there is no better way to symbolize the trust and ambitions of our two companies than this association!”

Meanwhile, Riot CEO Nicolo Laurent says:

“Fortiche has been an integral partner for a long time, but this agreement ensures we’ll be working closely for decades to come. We hold a high bar for everyone we work with and insist they understand players deeply and focus on them relentlessly, and from day one, Fortiche has exemplified Player Experience First. In working with Fortiche, we collaborate to push the boundaries of what’s possible and raise expectations for how games can be represented in media. As proud as we are of Arcane, we know the best is yet to come.”

With this investment, Riot now holds a significant non-controlling stake in Fortiche. As consequence, two of Riot's executives have joined Fortiche's board of directors. Apart from Arcane, the two companies have previously worked together for the music videos “Get Jinxed”, “WARRIORS”, “Enemy”, “Seconds”, “POP/STARS”, and “RISE”, with 2023 marking ten years of collaboration between the two companies.