Arcane, the League of Legends animated series, is delayed into 2021

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

In October 2019, Riot Games announced Arcane, an animated series based on its lore-laden League of Legends MOBA. Details were thin at the time—the reveal trailer is basically a montage of brief animated character clips laid over dramatic music—but one thing Riot did commit to was a 2020 release. Today, however, the studio said that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it won't be able to make that happen.

"Everyone here at Riot is bummed. We were really looking forward to bringing you the show this year, but we need to balance our excitement for the story with the safety and well-being of our teams and partners. Our revised plan is to release Arcane in 2021, so stay tuned to our channels for more specific updates as we get closer," Riot head of creative development Greg Street wrote.

"Creative development and production is hard, especially in a world where you can’t see your coworkers IRL. We have video meetings now, which help, but they are no substitute for being in a room where we can really get the creative energy flowing. Combine these issues, along with the technical difficulties of production at the international scale, and the problem becomes a lot bigger. Props to our amazing creative partner, Fortiche, who has continued to do everything they can to keep moving Arcane forward."

Riot is "pretty happy" overall with the fact that it's been able to release Valorant and Legends of Runeterra this year in spite of the pandemic, Street said, and tries to be "as transparent with you as possible" about what's going on—although unfortunately, that didn't carry over into any new information about Arcane itself.

"I know this news is probably disappointing. We are disappointed," he wrote. "But Arcane is shaping up to be an amazing story and one we'll share with you as soon as we can."

Thanks, Dot Esports.

TOPICS
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in MOBA
League of Legends promo image - huge dude in a huge suit of armor holding a huge axe
Riot walks back unpopular League of Legends changes: Hextech Chests are coming back, and the Blue Essence cost for new champions will be cut in half
A triptych of views from Deadlock's improved map, showing a suspension bridge backlit by a setting sun, a triumphal arch with buildings in the background, and a leafy park overlooked by distant skyscrapers.
Deadlock gets a massive map overhaul that shrinks its map from four lanes to three: 'This has a large range of accompanying map-wide changes'
Three monsters holding clubs in Dota 2.
As a lapsed 4,500 hour veteran of Dota 2, the big new Wandering Waters update has lured me back—but despite the changes, the game still feels stuck in its ways
Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser revealed in silhouette against a white moon and a blood-red sky.
League of Legends is getting a hotly anticipated skin for its lich necromancer Mordekaiser, but fans' joy has been 'obliterated' because it's 'stuck in a $200 fomo gacha store'
Smite 2 art
Hi-Rez will only be giving 'minor updates' to Smite and Paladins now it's laying off around 70 employees, but don't worry, Smite 2 is the 'primary focus of the newly streamlined operations'
LoL summoner art
It's high time League of Legends got full voice chat
Latest in News
Three sheep with big guns in Palworld.
It was 'super popular to hate Palworld' after launch, says community manager: 'A lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure'
Palworld Ancient Civilization Parts - Grizzbolt with a minigun
'It was a very depressing day': Palworld community manager reveals studio's reaction to Nintendo lawsuit
CS 1.6 remade in CS: Legacy.
A gorgeous ground-up remake of Counter-Strike 1.6 is on its way to Steam, and one of the game's original creators says 'it really gives me old vibes'
Portal P3 pinball table
There's a new Portal game and it costs $12,500
MrBeast posing in front of a stack of cashing, promoting Beast Games season 2
Beast Games opens casting for season 2: MrBeast lost a ton of money on season 1 but apparently not enough that he won't do it again
Ark: Lost Colony teaser still.
Ark 2 is still on: The next Ark expansion 'leads into the events of Ark 2,' says Studio Wildcard