League of Legends Developer Invests in Arcane Animation Studio

By Rollin Bishop

League of Legends developer Riot Games and Arcane animation studio Fortiche Production have announced that Riot has made a new equity investment in Fortiche. The investment itself closed earlier this year and leaves Riot Games with what is described as a "significant" but non-controlling stake in Fortiche. Additionally, Riot Games' Chief Content Officer Brian Wright and Director of Corporate Development Brendan Mulligan have joined the board of directors for Fortiche Production.

Given the success of Arcane, which recently won every category it was nominated in at the 2022 Annie Awards, it's not all that surprising to see Riot Games invest in the animation studio behind it. Especially given that Arcane has already been picked up for a second season. But it's also worth noting that the two have a relatively long history together with Fortiche Production collaborating on several music videos and cinematics, including but not limited to "Get Jinxed" for the introduction of the champion Jinx to League of Legends.

"The various collaborations with Riot Games, and especially Arcane, have made Fortiche Production a new major player on the international animation scene," said Pascal Charrue, Jérôme Combe, and Arnaud Delord, co-founders of Fortiche, as part of the official announcement. "Riot Games, by trusting us, has given us the means to achieve our common ambitions and has shown that it is possible to offer new content that can reach a large audience. In 2023, we will celebrate ten years of collaboration: there is no better way to symbolize the trust and ambitions of our two companies than this association!"

"Fortiche has been an integral partner for a long time, but this agreement ensures we'll be working closely for decades to come," said Nicolo Laurent, CEO of Riot Games, as part of the same announcement. "We hold a high bar for everyone we work with and insist they understand players deeply and focus on them relentlessly, and from day one, Fortiche has exemplified Player Experience First. In working with Fortiche, we collaborate to push the boundaries of what's possible and raise expectations for how games can be represented in media. As proud as we are of Arcane, we know the best is yet to come."

The first season of Arcane is currently available on Netflix, and a second season has been officially announced. The show features Hailee Steinfeld as the voice of Vi, Katie Leung as the voice of Caitlyn, Kevin Alejandro as the voice of Jayce, Jason Spisak as the voice of Silco, Ella Purnell as the voice of Jinx, Toks Olagundoye as the voice of Mel, JB Blanc as the voice of Vander, and Harry Lloyd as the voice of Viktor. It is developed by Riot Games in partnership with Fortiche Productions. Christian Linke and Alex Yee serve as series co-creators while Linke is also the showrunner. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the animated show right here.

Have you had a chance to watch Arcane as of yet? What do you think about Riot Games investing in Fortiche Production? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up direction over on Twitter at @rollinbishop in order to talk about all things gaming and animation!

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