Riot Games' Arcane Netflix series, which rose to critical acclaim and had a successful two-season run, reportedly failed to make money back for the company.
However, studio co-founder Marc Merrill defended the hit show by saying that they still consider Arcane to be a success because of how much fans of "League of Legends" loved it. He said that they were not focused on the short-term extraction of profits.
Riot Games' Arcane Netflix Series
Instead, they are looking to deliver exceptional value to fans again and again over the long term. A Bloomberg report released earlier this week noted that one of Riot Games' goals for Arcane was to attract fans back into its free-to-play game.
This would then hopefully lead them to spend money on Arcane-themed skins and other digital items.
However, this particular strategy did not pay off for Riot Games and sparked concerns at owner Tencent about the developer straying from its core mission of being a game company, according to Kotaku.
The studio has announced a series of layoffs this year, some of which affected its "League of Legends" PC team. The job cuts happened after an expansion into transmedia properties such as Arcane and investment in several video game projects that never quite stuck.
CEO Dylan Jadeja said at the start of the year that Riot Games is refocusing on fewer high-impact projects to move it toward a more sustainable future.
Merrill dismissed rumors last month that Arcane was supposed to have more than two seasons but was cut down due to overspending.
Focusing on Long-Term Success
It was reported that Netflix's show cost $250 million to make across its two seasons. However, even if Netflix paid Riot Games $3 million per episode as well as another $3 million to parent company Tencent, it only totaled to about half of the production cost, Forbes said.
However, Riot Games said that Arcane's success increased the studio's business in other ways and will eventually break even. The report also noted that some employees did not agree with the decision to sink resources into the series following the recent layoffs.
Merrill said that some people think Riot Games made Arcane in order to sell "League of Legends" skins. However, he said that it was actually the other way around, where they sell skins in order to make things like Arcane.
The remarks come as Riot Games is known for selling expensive skins, including a $500 Ahri skin. One issue with this is that it was reported that the artist of the skin itself was later fired, according to PCGamer.
