UPDATE 5.45pm UK: Arcane may be ending with its second season, but Riot Games is planning more projects with the show’s talented animation studio Fortiche, the developer has now said.
“Arcane is just the beginning of our larger storytelling journey and our partnership with the wonderful animation studio that is Fortiche,” co-creator Christian Linke said in a new developer update video. “From the very beginning, since we started working on this project, we had a very specific ending in mind, which means the story of Arcane wraps up with the second season.
“But Arcane is just the first of many stories we want to tell in Runeterra. We’ve been with Riot through Vi and Jinx’s entire journey thus far, from becoming in-game champions to characters featured in different cinematics to main characters in a TV show. Their arcs have grown so far beyond our original dreams, and we want to give the same treatment to more champions.
“We’re currently working on our next projects across television and film, and we’re hopeful that we can share more before the end of the year. We’re still in the early stages of that, and these things do take a lot of time, but we want to share updates with you whenever we can.”
ORIGINAL STORY 4.45pm UK:
You wait years for a new season of your favourite show, and then find out it’s ending. In what looks like classic Netflix fashion, today’s action-packed trailer for Arcane season two describes the show’s long-awaited second run of episodes as “The Final Chapter”.
Which, for possibly the best video game adaptation of all time, and just an incredible TV show in general, is pretty bad news.
Spoilers abound for the show’s first season here, as the trailer appears to answer what happened next after the first season’s explosive cliffhanger ending.
Arcane season two trailer.Watch on YouTube
Some (but clearly not all) of the series’ characters from season one are present, in this, our best look at Arcane season two yet. It looks great! But hell, to find out these episodes are likely the end of Arcane’s story already is a massive shame.
Arcane’s first nine-episode season debuted on Netflix in 2021. It took six years to make, and was showered by praise from fans of its League of Legends source material and newcomers alike. It was also critically adored, and won that year’s Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program.
The show’s upcoming second season has taken another three years to put together, and it was hoped its story would continue on further. There’s still the possibility of another Arcane-style series set elsewhere within its universe, perhaps, but fans should now seemingly prepare themselves for the show’s overall series finale when new episodes arrive this November.