Arcane Dethrones Squid Game As Netflix's #1 Show
The position was held by the Korean drama for two months.
In just three days, Riot Games' first animated series for League of Legends, Arcane, has dethroned Korean drama Squid Game as the number one TV show on Netflix in 37 countries.
.@arcaneshow debuted at #1 on @netflix TV Shows Chart, dethroning “Squid Game”.
— It debuted at #1 on 37 countries. #Arcane #ArcaneWatchParty pic.twitter.com/acVV1om54x— League Charts | Arcane Era 🧙🏻 (@ChartsLoL) November 8, 2021
The position was held for about two months by Squid Game, which has officially reached 111 million people, making it the biggest launch ever for the streaming service.
Set in the world of Runeterra, Arcane focuses on events taking part in the city of Piltover and its undercity district, Zaun. Due to being a MOBA, much of League of Legends' story is told through lore drops, and so Arcane will be one of the first times that we'll see the wider world of Runeterra in animated, visual form.
Heading up the voice cast is Hailee Steinfeld as Vi, one of LoL's most recognisable characters. Joining her are Jinx, Jayce, Caitlyn, Silco, Mel, Vander, and Viktor, all popular champions from the game.
In China, where Netflix is not available, Arcane has been a massive hit. According to Bloomberg, the series received an overwhelmingly positive response, gaining 130 million views within a few hours and becoming the most searched term on Tencent's streaming website.
The show, which was produced in conjunction with League of Legends' 10th anniversary, has been praised by fans and critics for its high-quality animation and solid voice acting.
Riot is celebrating the premiere of Arcane with a full month of celebration across all of its biggest games. Besides a crossover with Fortnite and PUBG Mobile, Riot hosted a red carpet event to time with the premiere of Arcane on Netflix. Streamers were able to co-stream the first episode on Twitch without risk of DMCA takedown.
Arcane will be released in three parts throughout November and every Riot game will add some kind of Arcane-themed tie-in as new episodes premiere.
Riot Games is not the first game studio to expand its reach into entertainment. Valve earlier this year released its own animated series, Dota: Dragon's Blood, which distilled Dota's overarching conflict into a digestible introduction for newcomers while making a story true to existing lore with plenty of items and references to other things in the game for Dota 2 fans.
Arcane will mark Riot's first major step into film, TV, and animated shows, and the company plans to continue expanding into the entertainment business. The first three episodes of Arcane is now available on Netflix.
