League of Legends creator beats Squid Game on Netflix with game-based animated series
- Arcane, an animated TV series based on League of Legends, has overtaken Squid Game as Netflix’s No 1 show in more than 50 markets
- Riot Games has been Tencent’s best investment yet – a deal which made the Chinese company an international gaming giant
Riot Games, the creator of online game League of Legends and a subsidiary of Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, is expanding into animation and other entertainment forms to become the “Disney for gamers” after the launch of its first animated series on Netflix proved successful, the company’s chief executive Nicolo Laurent said.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, the French CEO of the California-based company said Riot Games sees its future as an entertainment company like Disney – but focused exclusively on the gaming community.
“I have kids who are in their Disney phase right now,” Laurent said. “They’re watching Frozen, and they have the toys. They have the movie. They go to the theme park. And I’m like, I want to do this for gamers, for people who love our games.”
Riot Games has been seen as Tencent’s best investment yet – a deal which made the Chinese company an international video gaming giant. In 2011, the Shenzhen-based company bought a 93 per cent stake in Riot for US$400 million, acquiring the remaining 7 per cent in 2015.
