Netflix's new series Arcane is now the number one streaming show in the U.S. as of last week. Arcane, which premiered on the streaming service on November 6, is a CG-animated series from the League of Legends universe. League of Legends is a popular multiplayer online game that has been in circulation since 2009. The game has grown over the years into one of the world's largest esports, with a dozen leagues across the globe competing in tournaments annually.
League of Legends is a more battle-oriented game, so Arcane expands on the universe and story around its edges. It is a prequel to the time period in which the game is set, following popular characters from the game's locations of Piltover, a utopian haven for the upper class, and Zaun, a downtrodden and grimy city that houses the poor. The series stars Hailee Steinfeld (who also stars in the Disney+ MCU streaming series Hawkeye, which premiered yesterday) and Ella Purnell as sisters Vi and Jinx, who find themselves split across ideological lines in a brewing war. The series also stars Kevin Alejandro, Katie Leung, Harry Lloyd, Jason Spisak, Toks Olagundoye, JB Blanc, and Reed Shannon.
Per The Wheel of Time.
Arcane is a series that goes off the usual Netflix model, releasing batches of three episodes at a time rather than premiering the entire season at once. This may for the rapid growth of the series in the weeks since it premiered because new viewers are ing each week as the buzz expands. Understandably, season 2 has already been renewed.
It might be surprising for some that Arcane has been such an explosive hit. However, it's one of the first series to integrate the world of streaming entertainment and online gaming in a successful way, which seems to be drawing in the huge audience from the world of gaming and game streaming. Those who exist only in the sphere of movies and TV might be unaware of how widely popular a game like League of Legends truly is, but the gaming community is clearly turning out in droves to prove how deep the fandom goes.
Source: Deadline