Riot Games, the developer and publisher famous for League of Legends and the breakout animated series Arcane, and Fortiche Production, the animation studio behind Arcane and many League videos, today announced a new equity investment by Riot in Fortiche.
Riot now holds a significant non-controlling stake in Fortiche. Brian Wright (Chief Content Officer at Riot) and Brendan Mulligan (Director of Corporate Development at Riot) have also joined Fortiche’s board of directors.
Fortiche worked closely with Riot during the early ideation and storyboard development of the League of Legends spin-off Arcane series and has been a key partner throughout the development of the show. The pair are currently collaborating on the second season of Arcane, as well as other to-be-announced projects.
The rise and rise of gaming property becoming TV shows and movies shows no signs of slowing.
Arcane premiered at #1 globally on Netflix in November, 2021 and held the top spot for three weeks in a row hitting the top 10 in over 52 countries and maintaining a rare 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. The series recently received nine nominations for the 49th annual Annie Awards, making it the most-nominated TV show of the year.
“Enemy,” the single by Imagine Dragons from the original sound track, has reached over 1 billion streams and hit #1 on the Billboard rock chart.
Riot Games + Fortiche: The perfect partnership
Pascal Charrue, Jérôme Combe, and Arnaud Delord, co-founders of Fortiche said, “The various collaborations with Riot Games, and especially Arcane, have made Fortiche Production a new major player on the international animation scene. Riot Games, by trusting us, has given us the means to achieve our common ambitions and has shown that it is possible to offer new content that can reach a large audience. In 2023, we will celebrate ten years of collaboration: there is no better way to symbolize the trust and ambitions of our two companies than this association!”
“Fortiche has been an integral partner for a long time, but this agreement ensures we’ll be working closely for decades to come,” said Nicolo Laurent, CEO of Riot. “We hold a high bar for everyone we work with and insist they understand players deeply and focus on them relentlessly, and from day one, Fortiche has exemplified Player Experience First. In working with Fortiche, we collaborate to push the boundaries of what’s possible and raise expectations for how games can be represented in media. As proud as we are of Arcane, we know the best is yet to come.”
Daniel Griffiths is a veteran journalist who has worked on some of the world's biggest entertainment, home and tech media brands. He's reviewed all the greats, interviewed countless big names, and reported on thousands of releases in the fields of video games, music, movies, tech, gadgets, home improvement, self build, interiors, garden design and more. He’s the ex-Editor of PSM3, GamesMaster, Future Music and ex-Group Editor-in-Chief of Electronic Musician, Guitarist, Guitar World, Computer Music and more. He renovates property and writes fun things for great websites.
