Arcane was the hit League of Legends TV show that took over Netflix in 2021. Amid cuts to the animation side of the streaming service though, questions were raised about Season 2. Riot has confirmed, however, Arcane Season 2 is still coming.
Netflix’s first-quarter results in 2022 stunned stakeholders and the public. The streaming giant, which originally predicted a 2.5 million gain in subscribers across the first three months of 2022, ended up losing 200,000 due to suspending its service in Russia.
The April 20 news saw the single worst day in Netflix history on the stock market as its share value plummeted from nearly $350 USD to $226.19 USD at close — its lowest since January 2018. Reports stated Netflix lost $54 billion in its market cap.
In the aftermath of the news, big decisions were made. The platform’s animation service was trimmed immediately, with a number of key roles cut as well as upcoming titles canceled.
This included the departure of Director of Creative Leadership and Development for Original Animation, Phil Rynda, along with his staff, according to a report by The Wrap. Hyped projects like Bone and an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twist were also binned.
Netflix’s animation projects were slashed following a poor Q1 2022.
For League of Legends fans, this put Arcane in a precarious position. The renowned League of Legends TV show, focusing on sisters Jinx (Powder) and Vi, took the platform by storm in 2021 and dominated the charts.
It also swept the animation awards in Hollywood this year, taking home nine Annies — a near-record haul in its 50-year history. It’s even primed for an Emmy nomination later in 2022.
News of animation cuts at Netflix concerned fans about whether Arcane Season 2, which is currently in production, would be affected.
However, Riot has confirmed with Dexerto that Arcane is safe from the Netflix animation cuts due to the nature of their deal with the streaming platform.
A spokesperson clarified “Riot fully produces the series” while only handling a distribution deal with Netflix. Working alongside French studio Fortiche, Arcane Season 2 is still rocking along in production — although no release date has been announced.
Riot didn’t answer whether they would look at a new distribution deal following the recent Netflix departures.
Arcane Season 2 is safe from the Netflix animation cuts, Riot told Dexerto.
Arcane Season 2 is set to continue the storyline following Jinx and Vi, with fellow League of Legends champions Jayce, Viktor, Caitlyn, Ekko, and more to also play starring roles.
Riot are also working on future projects in their cinematic universe beyond Arcane.