The second and final season of Netflix’s League of Legends animated series Arcane is already here, and headlines about some behind-the-scenes drama have come out.
Last week, Variety reported how production costs for the series had ballooned past $250 million, making it the most expensive animated series ever made. This was caused, Variety says, by delays in script deliveries due to the fact that half of them weren’t even finished by the time production on season two was starting, as well as a “labor-intensive approach” to the show’s production. This is also not taking into account the large amounts of money League developer Riot Games poured in to promote the series—yet another big step in the company’s ambitious leap into entertainment.
After the Variety report came out, several people who worked on the show came forward to defend the eye-watering price tag. Showrunner Christian Linke told GamesRadar on Nov. 9 that not only is the number Variety reported “not exactly right,” but that the high price is justified due to how he and the rest of the crew wanted to have production values that rival those of animated movies that you see in the theaters. According to them, all the money they spent on things such as voice actors and talented artists are “a reflection of the amount of effort that we put into this.”
The effort can clearly be seen in the final product, as Arcane is both a critical and commercial success, receiving high ratings on Netflix and winning several awards. The first batch of episodes for season two have gotten high praise also, boding well for League fans trying to spot their favorite character and casual viewers alike when the rest of the season releases later this month. And as we see Riot and more video game companies expand into Hollywood, these budgets might become even wilder.
