While we still wait (im)patiently for Season 2 of Arcane, Netflix released a new making-of video for the first season of the animated series set in the League of Legends universe. The video features the co-creators of the hit series, Riot Games’ Christian Linke and Alex Yee, while they explain their close relationship with the French animation studio Fortiche, which worked on the first season of Arcane.
As Arcane’s co-creators explain in the new making-of video, they’ve been gestating the idea of an animated series for a long time. Before Arcane, League of Legends was mainly known by gamers as one of the leading competitive titles in the market, but the franchise actually has profound lore full of complex characters. Linke and Yee wanted to expand the League of Legends universe’s lore side and to do that, they’ve reached out to Fortiche.
Fortiche’s first contribution to the League of Legends universe came in 2013, when the studio animated the musical clip Get Jinxed, the official introduction of the champion Jinx to the game. In 2014, Fortiche also worked on the character introduction of Ekko, another champion who would be part of Arcane. Since then, Fortiche has produced several short videos for Riot Games, always featuring the unique art style that would be refined for the development of Arcane.
The first season of Arcane was released last November at Netflix in three story arcs, each containing three episodes. The series explored the gentrification issues of Piltover, where the poor masses are pushed into the crumbling neighborhood of Zaun, located in trenches surrounding the majestic city. At the hearth of Arcane lies the conflict between sisters Vi (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (voiced by Ella Purnell), who slowly grow apart as they get caught in the middle of the conflict between Piltover’s wealthy politicians and Zaun’s separatists.
The first season of Arcane quickly became a major success due to its writing, layered characters, intelligent social commentary, and, of course, the incredible animation work done by Fortiche. The first season of Arcane also allowed League of Legends fans to learn more details about some of their favorite champions, such as Viktor (voiced by Harry Lloyd), Jayce (voiced by Kevin Alejandro), and Caitlyn (voiced by Katie Leung).
Season 1 of Arcane is available right now on Netflix.
Unfortunately, there’s no release date for Season 2. Check out the new making-of video below:
