Considered by many to be one of the all-time greatest animated shows, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 100% with critics, and 87% with users, “Arcane” came to a halt after just two seasons. Many wondered why the successful show would end, with lots of speculation about costs, especially when it was originally planned to have a five-season arc.
Confusingly, Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill stated publicly that season 3 of the show was cancelled so the team could “explore other universes” without leaving entertainment as a whole. Merrill later clarified in a Reddit post that “Arcane” was always meant to have two seasons, and that “there was a budget conversation” about approving up to five. Merrill explains that they were “setting aside a bunch of money for lots of development” which he says is “irrelevant” to “Arcane’s” seasons.
That said, “Arcane” did cost a lot of money. Sources claim Riot Games, developer of the game if was based on, “League of Legends,” spent $60 million of its own money to promote the first season. In addition, Variety reported that it cost the studio $250 million to produce and promote the 18-episode two-season run of the show. That makes it one of the most expensive animated series ever developed. Merrill points out in his comment the cost-per-minute of “Arcane” is one-third to one-fourth of what Illumination and Disney’s Pixar films cost. The important point to note here is that “Arcane” was incredibly expensive. Moreover, some of the parties involved, like Netflix, may never go on record about the specifics behind the show’s seemingly sudden end.
Was Arcane really cancelled?
The truth behind the end of “Arcane” may never be fully known. For now, we just have to decide which story to believe. Whether you ascribe to Marc Merrill’s explanation that the show was always going to have only two seasons or the media reports that after two seasons, the costs were just continuing to climb, there is technically an answer, one way or another.
In the end, the question is only really relevant because the show is so good. There’s a reason why we consider “Arcane” to be one of the top ten epic fantasy series to watch on any streaming platform. The good news, at least until something is shared otherwise, is that it sounds like “Arcane” won’t be the only animated tale to take place in the “League of Legends” universe.
Purportedly, there are three more shows on the way, each focusing on a different region of the game’s world, potentially including Noxus, Ionia, and Demacia. In the meantime, you can always watch the cinematic trailer for the 2025 “League of Legends” season, which was produced by “Arcane” animation studio Fortiche, if you want an epilogue of sorts.
