Between this and the recent, solid DOTA animated show Dragon’s Blood, it seems like Netflix is going all-in on the hyperspecific market that is “wildly popular MOBA, but make it cartoons.”
This morning Netflix revealed that the world of the global sensation League of Legends—the fantastical multiplayer arena game/esports force pitting teams of players against each other in a push-and-pull combat game to protect their respective home bases—is being turned into an animated series for the service. Little was revealed about the plot, other than that the show will be called Arcane, and is described as an “event series.”
The show is part of League developer Riot’s ongoing attempts to broaden the game’s lore and characters outside of the MOBA space. The developer is already making multiple game spinoffs set in League’s universe, and Arcane as a project was already teased by them last year for the studio’s 10th anniversary. But it seems like Arcane will serve as a way for people intrigued by it but not enough to want to deal with having to play the games itself to get in on the fun.
Arcane releases on Netflix this fall.
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DISCUSSION
I imagine part of what makes it an event series is that the animation will—in a notable departure from other Netflix shows—look good. (I kid slightly: the truth is that, as someone who doesn’t play League of Legends and never will, I’ve really enjoyed the trailers and shorts that Riot puts out, and I’m glad to see them putting some of that muscle into a narrative I’d be interested to watch.)