Riot Game’s Netflix hit Arcane is based on the world of their most popular free-to-play online games, League of Legends. Part one has been an overwhelming success and announcements for a second season have already been released on the official Arcane Twitter account.

Arcane was released on Nov. 6, 2021, on Netflix and was written by Christian Linke and Alex Yee. The show received a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The origins of two iconic league champions are set in the Utopian city Piltover and the oppressed underground city of Zaun. The storyline follows the main characters of sisters, Vi and Powder who separate due to the cities being on the verge of war. Vi is played by American actress and singer Hailee Steinfeld and Powder by English actress Ella Purnell.

Arcane is a story about people wrecking their own lives and relationships in ways that feel hopelessly inevitable. What makes this show so compelling over the course of its now complete first season is that its characters and their passions for each other, for fulfillment and for revenge are what everything else stems from.

It’s not a show that is particularly concerned with world-building by way of exposition the way so much fantasy typically is. Rather, it shows characters building their world and societies up and then breaking it by not being able to work together.

The series is solely about relationships, mainly following that of Vi and Powder and their complications, hurt and betrayal. The two grow up as sisters in the Underground City, orphaned by war and are separated as young adults. Their complicated relationship comes from a place of safety and comfort because of their sisterly bond as it becomes threatened by Powder’s insecurities.

The other central pair of the series, Viktor and Jayce, is an essential part of “The City of Progress” Piltover. The two idealistic scientists find each other in a moment of darkness and lost hope and together, steer Piltover to even greater heights and advancements thanks to their invention of “Hextech”.

What makes Arcane such an interesting show is the animation style. The art style is created by blending 2D and 3D animation styles to create its lifelike look. Arcane works to push the limits of animation by combining the unique style with a neon dystopia aesthetic of the show’s setting.

This is the first feature that the game has ever produced. Since its release, it has stayed on the Netflix Top 10 for six straight weeks in the United States.

League of Legends was first released in 2009 and developed a massive following due to its competitive nature and extremely broad fanbase. Riot Games does not endorse any “pay to win” methods, in contrast to most online games which require in-game purchases for quicker advancement.

The objective of each League of Legends match is to join a team and destroy the opposing team’s base, known as the Nexus. Players must clear at least one lane to the base by taking down defense structures that stand in the way.

The teams are also encouraged to take on the jungle in between the lanes on their way to destroying the Nexus to find different monsters and plants. Clearing these jungles can provide players with buffs, or status effects that can turn the game to their advantage.

Arcane focuses on nine champions and the two industrial cities of Piltover and Zaun within the planet of Runeterra, but these are only a few of the 157 playable champions and areas the game’s world has to offer.

The game is incredibly rich in lore, providing each champion with its own character description and origin story, many of which intertwine with another character.

With the release of the series, Riot Games announced RiotXArcane, a month-long League of Legends event that allowed players to immerse themselves in the world of Arcane. This contained in-game events, missions, rewards and free skins that were available from Nov 6, 2021 to Dec 9, 2021. Following the end of the event, Arcane skins were available for 975 RP, the in-game currency earned by playing matches.

Additionally, Arcane’s Twitter account announced the opportunity to co-stream the first episode of the series on streaming platform Twitch without any risk of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Following their success with the show, Riot Games has shared the development progress of their fighting style game, currently known as Project L. Initially teased in 2019, the two-dimensional assist-based fighter is set in the world of Runeterra.

While the introduction was very broad, the newest update on game development progress highlights its connection to the Netflix series by including small clips from the show. The gameplay shows a mixture of well-known champions featured on Arcane, along with their other fan-favorite champions.

This preview, along with the RiotXArcane event, aims to draw in fans of the show who would not traditionally be interested in playing the game. While video game adaptations are not new in television, they are rarely as successful towards a non-gamer demographic.

Along with Arcane, Netflix has been releasing its own Netflix Original video game adaptations within the past few years such as Witcher and Castlevania. Netflix has released a list of all video game adaptation series that are released or in development for the upcoming year.

League Of Legends is available to play for free online on their website.