Arcane has a huge budget thanks to its quality, showrunners say

Key points

Arcane is reportedly the most expensive animated show ever created, with a budget of $250 million dedicated to production and promotion.
In a new interview, Arcane's showrunners defended the show's high budget due to its use of high-quality talent.
While they haven't outright confirmed those reports, the showrunners have stressed the need for a big budget to realize their vision.

It's no secret that television and movies, just like video games, have seen increased production costs. However, it came as a shock to many that Netflix's Arcane is reportedly the most expensive animated show ever created.

In fact, as reported by the entertainment site Variety, Arcane managed Riot Games for $250 million. Of that figure, $80 million was dedicated to Season 1, with another $100 million invested in Season 2. Not to mention the $60 million doled out for promotional purposes. In other words, the animated League of Legends spinoff isn't cheap.

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

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Quality has a cost attached to it

In an interview with GamesRadar, showrunner Christian Linke said that the reported budget of $250 million is incorrect, although he didn't clarify how long the show actually ran.

“First of all, the number is not exactly correct,” Linke said. “That figure includes marketing costs associated with the release, which are not part of Arcane's budget.” However, it's safe to assume that at least some of the $250 million, particularly the production aspects, are at least somewhat within limits.

Regardless, Linke and his colleagues were quick to defend their work on Arcane. “Arcane is a really expensive animated series, and that was the point,” he added. “Our dream was to create an animated series that was faithful to what you see in animated films.”

Alex Lee, another showrunner, also described the cost of hiring incredible talent, such as voice actors and artists, to help bring the show to life. “There are voice actors, where we really tried to find great talent,” Lee said. “There are artists that we wanted to have the time to really be able to put their own spin on and have so many different disciplines be able to really do their best and show what they could do. In a lot of ways, the money is just a reflection of the amount of effort that was put into this.”

Considering how popular and well-received Arcane has been, it seems like the budget has more than paid off. However, it's worth discussing how the show managed to cost more than some well-known animated projects. And it's definitely worth wondering how much the final cost would have been if the show had reached its originally intended length.