Why was the Arkyn canceled after 2 seasons? Netflix had a serious reason

Despite the crazy popularity and cult status in the fan environment, Arkyn will not continue. The reason is not in assessments and not in the interest of the public.

Earlier rumors appeared on the internet that the series was originally planned as a large -scale franchise for at least five seasons. However, the official representatives – the co -authors of the Christian Linka and Alex Yi project – say the opposite: the story from the start was conceived as a two -season. This does not prevent fans from asking for continuation or at least spin-offs, but Riot Games and Netflix have no specific plans for this.

The main reason for the closure of the “Arke” is banal, but the weight is the budget. Arkyn has become one of the most expensive animation series in history:

• The total budget of two seasons has been $ 250 million
• Of this, about 60 million The first season went to advertise

The project turned out not only to be expensive, not only because of the quality of the animation, but also because of a very long production. Work on Arkein started in 2016When Riot Games turned to the French Fortiche studio with the idea of a pilot. At that time, Riot had no experience in the production of series, and it was logistics – together with ambitions – became one of the most important costs of costs. Moreover, the second season was complicated by the fact that they started doing it before the scenario, and therefore the deadlines were constantly shifted.

Huge expenses went on marketing. Despite the fact that the League of Legends already has a gigantic fan base, Riot has invested dozens of millions in the promotion of the series outside the game community.

“It was important for us to make a show that really costs our players,” explained one of the founders of Riot Games Mark Merrill.

It is difficult to argue with this: Arkein received the recognition from critics, was the laureate of the Emmy Awards and has set new standards for changes to video games. But the price turned out to be too high, even for giants such as Riot and Netflix.

Especially considering that Arken was conceived as the start of a fully-fledged media-alternating software “League of Legends”. In 2020, Riot created a separate entertainment unit and even hired Soni Spenli in the position of president in global content. The plans include films, new series and cooperation with famous directors. Since then:

• The studio has not launched any extra project
• An attempt to collaborate with the Russo brothers failed
• V 2023–2024 Riot reduced hundreds of employees and turned the entertaining direction

At the time of the second season, the Arken remains The only one The studio project in the field of animation. His artistic virtues are not questioned – but from the point of view of the business community it turned out to be an experiment that probably does not want to repeat.