Arcane is reportedly the most expensive animated series of all time

Arcane has been a huge hit for Netflix and Riot Games – an unabashed critical darling that’s been embraced by League of Legends fans and more – but it didn’t come cheap.

Black revealed some pretty startling numbers in a new report on Wednesday surrounding why Riot’s expansion into film and television has been hampered despite Arcane’s success. A lot of it has to do with budget; according to Variety’s sources, Arcane’s two seasons cost $250 million to make and market. That’s a big chunk of change for 18 episodes.

Riot co-founder and head of product Marc Merrill declined to confirm the whopping $250 million figure when he spoke to Variety, but stood by the results.

“We are more than comfortable with the spending it took to deliver a show worthy of our players’ time,” Merrill said.

As Variety points out, that makes it the most expensive animated series of all time. It might also explain, at least in part, why we only get two seasons. When Netflix first announced the news in June that Arcane would end with Season 2, co-creator Christian Linke pointed to the story’s reasons, saying, “since we started working on this project, we had a very specific ending in mind, meaning the story of Arcane wraps up this second season.” Linke also teased that the team was planning other stories set in Runeterra.

The report also has a few other interesting tidbits, including the fact that Riot had apparently recruited Marvel mainstays Joe and Anthony Russo to develop a feature film set in the League of Legends universe. However, Riot’s inexperience with Hollywood deals – a crux of the article – led to the developer losing $5 million, only for the Russos to walk away due to disagreements over the script. It’s an expensive creative difference.

Arcane Season 2, like the first season, will be released in three acts, airing episodes on November 9, November 16, and November 23. We thought the massive budget showed in the first season, which we gave a 10/10. “Arcane is the first video game adaptation that is truly a masterpiece, breaking new ground for what is possible in television animation,” we wrote at the time.

Alex Stedman is Senior News Editor at IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.