EntertainmentTVAnimation ShowsArcaneCriticism of Arcane’s reported $250 million budget is “silly from our perspective,” says LoL co-creator, and Hollywood just can’t understand “why we would do this"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
EntertainmentTVAnimation ShowsArcaneCriticism of Arcane’s reported $250 million budget is “silly from our perspective,” says LoL co-creator, and Hollywood just can’t understand “why we would do this"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Netflix)

The co-founder of League of Legends studio Riot Games is the latest voice to step in and defend spin-off series Arcane amid reports of its $250 million budget.
In acommenton Reddit, Riot Games co-founder and chief product officer Marc Merrill explained whyArcane is ending with Season 2, saying that the show was always intended to run for two seasons and that Riot has more stories it wants to tell within its world. He also commented onreports of the show’s $250 million budget, a figure that would make it the most expensive animated show ever produced.
“Since I’m here I’ll add - the ‘lol @ the cost’ of Arcane arguments are silly from our perspective,” Merrill commented towards the end of his comment. “As people have correctly pointed out the cost per minute of Arcane is about 1/3 to 1/4 of what Illumination /Pixarfilms cost.”
The reason why people are struggling to wrap their heads around that figure, Merrill claims, is that “the market for […] high-quality, adult-focused animation didn’t exist before Arcane so Hollywood has a hard time getting their head around why we would do this.” He later clarified that he was referring to Western markets, rather than international audiences.
Ensure you never miss an episode with ourArcane season 2 release schedule. For more, check out our guide to thebest Netflix showsfor some viewing inspiration.
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