Arcane – A Critical Success but a Commercial Failure

Arcane, the immensely popular League of Legends spin-off, hasn’t been successful commercially. Despite the anticipation behind the second season and the rave reviews the show received overall. Its financial performance has been largely lacklustre. 

As per a Bloomberg report, a Riot representative mentioned that the series had effectively broken even but had not been a commercial success. Despite its popularity on streaming platforms. 

This is due to a variety of factors, for all intents and purposes it seems as if Riot didn’t have a proper strategy to recoup the funds they spent. They also overextended themselves financially when advertising the show and the awards ceremonies surrounding it. Not only did the show cost more than expected and not generate the kinds of returns the team was hoping for. It also didn’t generate any significant League of Legends support. 

The limited League of Legends support makes sense as there was little crossover between the show and the video game. Where other companies might’ve included events or had in-game rewards Riot seemingly missed the boat and only had a few character skins. New players are unlikely to pick up a game like League of Legends because it presents quite a steep learning curve. 

While Riot might not realise a profit right away it may do so in due course. Depending on its agreement with Netflix it would presumably be able to collect on royalties over time as people watch and rewatch the show. Time will tell. But as fans of the show, we can only hope that it will succeed, because who wouldn’t like more shows like Arcane. It would be a pity for Riot to be discouraged. Perhaps this may also prompt Riot to review its new player experience.

If you’d like to read more on Arcane then click here.