Riot Games, known for League of Legends and Arcane, announced that it had made an equity investment in Fortiche Production, the animation studio behind many League of Legends videos with Arcane. Under the terms of the acquisition, which were finalized earlier this year, Riot now owns a significant non-controlling stake in Fortiche. Brian Wright (Riot Chief Content Officer) and Brendan Mulligan (Riot Corporate Development Director) have joined Fortiche’s board of directors.
Riot and Fortiche have been partnering for nearly a decade to create great experiences for gamers. The companies first collaborated on the “Get Jinxed” music video to celebrate the launch of iconic champion Jinx.
Fortiche worked closely with Riot during the early ideation and storyboard development of Arcane and has been a key partner throughout the show’s development. Riot and Fortiche are currently collaborating on the second season of Arcane and other projects to be announced. Arcane premiered on Netflix worldwide and Tencent Video in China in November.
Arcane debuted at #1 worldwide on Netflix in November 2021, entering the top 10 in over 52 countries, topping the charts for three weeks, and briefly retaining a 100% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The series recently won nine Annie Awards, making it the most nominated and award-winning TV show of the year, with awards including Best TV/Media Overall Audience, Best Character Design, and Best Writing. Imagine Dragons’ original single “Enemy” reached over 1 billion streams and peaked at #1 on the Billboard rock chart.
Pascal Charrue, Jérôme Combe, and Arnaud Delord, Co-Founders of Fortiche, gave the following words in their speech;
“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!”
Riot CEO Nicolo Laurent said:
“Fortiche has been an integral partner for a long time, but this agreement ensures we’ll be working closely for decades to come. 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.”
Fortiche, which currently has 350 employees and collaborators in Paris, Montpellier, and Las Palmas, Spain, will remain operationally independent from Riot, in addition to its positions on Riot’s board of directors. The company’s leadership team consists of co-founders Charrue Pascal, Combe Jérôme, Delord Arnaud, and Hervé Dupont, appointed Managing Director.
