Arcane has a huge budget because of its quality, showrunners say.

Key Takeaways

Arcane is said to be the most expensive animated show ever produced, with a budget of $250 million to produce and promote.
In a new interview, Arcane's showrunners defended the show's reported high budget due to its use of high-quality talent.
The showrunners haven't fully confirmed these reports, but have noted that a high budget will be needed to execute their vision.

It's no secret that, like video games, the production costs of television and movies have increased. However, it still came as a shock to many people that Netflix's Arcane is said to be the most expensive animated show ever produced.

In fact, according to a report by entertainment website Variety, Arcane reportedly earned $250 million from running Riot Games. Of this, $80 million was invested in Season 1, and an additional $100 million was invested in Season 2. Needless to say, $60 million was spent on promotional purposes. That said, League of Legends animated spinoffs don't come cheap.

Now, days after the initial report emerged, Arcane's showrunners are speaking out in defense of the show's big budget.

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In an interview with GamesRadar, showrunner Christian Linke confirmed that the reported $250 million budget was inaccurate, but did not clarify how far along the show actually was.

“First of all, the numbers aren’t exactly right,” Linke said. “This figure includes marketing costs associated with the launch, which are not part of the Arcane budget.” Still, it's safe to assume that at least some of that $250 million, especially the production side, is somewhat predictable.

Nonetheless, Linke and his colleagues were quick to defend their work on Arcane. “Arcane is a really expensive animated series. That was the key,” he added. “Our dream was to create an animated series with the same fidelity you see in animated films.”

Another showrunner, Alex Lee, also explained the cost of hiring incredible talent, including voice actors and artists, to bring the show to life. “There are voice actors, and we tried to find really good talent,” Lee said. “There are artists that we really wanted to have time to put their touch on and give them their best and show what they can do across a variety of disciplines. In many ways, the money is just a reflection of the amount of effort that has been put into this. “It's just that.”

Considering how popular and well-received Arcane has been, it seems like the budget has largely paid off. Still, it's worth discussing how this show ended up costing more than some well-known animated projects. And it's worth wondering what the final cost would have been if the show had run to its originally intended length.