League of Legends fans can get their first look at the upcoming Netflix animated series League of Legends: Arcane with a new official trailer. The series, originally announced by developer Riot Games as part of the hit video game’s 10th anniversary, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new trailer from Netflix has confirmed that Arcane will be arriving on the streamer later this year.
Based on the old Warcraft III mod “Defense of the Ancients,” which spawned the hugely popular MOBA (Massive Online Battle Arena) genre of games, League of Legends pits two teams of five players against one another in a fantasy landscape of various thematic influences. Since its launch in 2009, League has risen to become one of the most popular and profitable video games of all time. DOTA 2, a primary competitor of League, recently got its own animated adaptation in Netflix’s DOTA: Dragon’s Blood.
Pretty soon, DOTA 2 and League of Legends fans will get to debate which has the better Netflix series as well as which is the better game. Netflix has finally released an official trailer for Arcane, giving a glimpse at the world of Runeterra as it’s never been seen before. Unlike Dragon’s Blood, which had an anime-like visual style from acclaimed animators Studio Mir, Arcane has a computer-animated look, more akin to Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The show is set to release on an undisclosed date this fall. Watch the new trailer below.
The new series is one of many video game adaptations currently in development as Netflix originals. The streamer has acquired a huge number of game rights since it entered the space with the critically acclaimed Castlevania anime in 2017, including Resident Evil, Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider, and Tom Clancy’s The Division. Netflix has found notable success with its game adaptations so far, avoiding many of the criticisms that have long plagued video game movies.
With luck, League of Legends: Arcane will find similar success when it premieres this fall. As one of the biggest games ever made, League already has a huge audience of fans who’ll likely turn up to check out the new show. In keeping with the game’s appeal to a younger audience, the series will reportedly be targeted at viewers aged 14 and older – a notable difference from DOTA: Dragon’s Blood's adult-oriented content. League of Legends: Arcane premieres on Netflix later this fall.
Source: Netflix