As part of the flood of information for Riot's 10th anniversary event, there was a special shocker: Arcane, a new animated TV series set in the League of Legends universe that's being produced entirely in-house at Riot Games. The debut trailer was an extended peek at a small but oh so vibrant slice of Runeterra. But Arcane's announcement now opens up dozens of other questions about its cast, characters, setting, and story. Here's everything we know about Arcane so far.
What is the Arcane release date?
Riot has announced that Arcane will premiere in autumn 2021, though they haven't set a specific date yet.
Arcade was originally planned for a 2020 release date but has been pushed back to 2021 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
"We were really looking forward to bringing you the show this year, but we need to balance our excitement for the story with the safety and well-being of our teams and partners," Riot said in June 2020.
What's the latest Arcane news?
We haven't gotten too much Arcane news outside of the release window announcement, but during Netflix's Geeked Week (a pre-E3 showcase of Netflix's gaming TV series), we got our first look at full scene from the show in which Jinx explores a dilapidated building that obviously holds some significance to her and Vi's childhood. You can watch that clip below.
What is Arcane about?
Arcane centers on the origin story of two of its most iconic characters: Jinx and her sister Vi. It's not clear exactly what the narrative is, but judging by the trailers it seems like Arcane will explore the sisters' childhood growing up on the mean streets of Piltover and Zaun, a pair of cities that represent a kind of technological utopia and dystopia.
As anyone who has played League of Legends probably knows, Jinx and Vi aren't exactly best friends. In the game, Jinx is an infamous terrorist with a passion for very big explosions, while Vi is a sheriff hellbent on preserving law and order. Arcane will explore the dynamics of their relationship and how these two sisters ended up on very different sides of the law.
Looking at previous trailers, other League of Legends characters are definitely going to make an appearance. Almost the entire roster of Piltover and Zaun champions will be making an appearance in some capacity it seems.
Here's the Arcane announcement trailer
This announcement trailer was our first look at Arcane.
In May 2021, Riot released another short teaser trailer showing more Vi and Jinx action alongside some other characters.
Where in Runeterra is Arcane set?
So far we've seen what looks like Piltover and Zaun.
Piltover is the center of Valoran, a beautiful city on the cliffs above the ocean and the center of Runeterrra's steampunk-driven aesthetic, hextech technology, and apparently, giant airships. It's usually used as a sort of renaissance stand-in city full of art, commerce, and invention.
Zaun, on the other hand, is the darker side of the industrial revolution. Located below Piltover as a sort of undercity, it's filled with mazes of pipes, smog, industrial chemicals, mad scientists, black markets, and all manner of pollution. People don't really live in Zaun so much as survive it as best they can, and a number of the more villainous characters from Runeterran lore hail from it.
Nowhere else in Runeterra has shown up so far, but there are a dozen other major locations that we know of already that could always show up.
Who is in Arcane?
So far, we've not been formally introduced to most of the characters who make brief appearances in the trailer. Jinx looks to play a role in the show, since it's set in her stomping grounds and her boots appear in the end of the teaser we got. Other than that—in addition to our speculation about the story focusing on Jinx and Vi—we don't know yet.
However, considering the setting of Piltover and Zaun, here's a list of all the champions associated with those regions:
- Camille
- Caitlyn
- Ezreal
- Jayce
- Orianna
- Vi
- Heimerdinger
- Jinx
- Ekko
- Twitch
- Blitzcrank
- Dr. Mundo
- Janna
- Singed
- Urgot
- Viktor
- Warwick
- Zac
- Ziggs
What else do we know about Arcane?
The show is independently financed by Riot, which means they have full internal creative control.
It's made by Fortiche Production, which is a French 3D animation studio that has worked with Riot before on animated cinematics, including Jinx's music video.
It's written for a "14+" audience, and will have some adult subject matter.