Christian Link discusses the final chapter

“We’ve all seen TV shows where we don’t know when to stop,” says Christian Link.

“We don’t want to be one of them.”

Quitting while leading isn’t always the television industry’s strong suit, and there are plenty of examples of shows “jumping the shark” and outgrowing their popularity.

But it’s relatively unusual to end a show on its own terms after just two seasons.

This is especially true when you’re the producer of Arcane – the award-winning animated story inspired by the multiplayer online game League of Legends (LoL).

The series follows the fate of sisters Vee and Jinx, who find themselves on opposite sides of a war.

“Pitch Perfect” stars Hailee Steinfeld and Ella Purnell (most recently seen in Amazon’s “Fallout” series) voice the duo.

Their performances and the striking animation produced by France’s Fortiche studio earned huge acclaim, winning an Emmy Award for Arcane and sweeping the “Cartoon Oscars” Annie Awards.

It remains one of Netflix’s most-watched original shows and is, in the opinion of some, the best video game adaptation ever.

So when Season 2 trailer Some fans were surprised when it was released earlier this week and revealed that this would be the “final chapter.”

But Christian, a showrunner who works for League of Legends developer Riot Games, insists this was always the plan.

“We just wanted to tell a very specific story and we had a very tailored ending in mind,” he told BBC Newsbeat.

Christian admitted that if he had known how the first season was received, he might have done things differently now.

“But that’s what we built from the beginning,” he said.

“So we have to follow our gut and tell the story as it should.”

The first season of “Arcana” ranked among the top 10 on Netflix in 83 countries around the world in the month of its release.

League of Legends is one of the most popular games in the world by player count and occupies a huge share of the esports scene.

Its annual World Series – reminiscent of the Olympics or football-style events – is taking place Held this year at London’s O2.

Christian said it was difficult to make a TV show in an industry “fearful of making big mistakes” and that no similar series with “high-quality animation” at its core existed at the time.

But he said having such a large fan base for the game gave Arcane’s creators confidence.

“Obviously, just because it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t mean that a large number of gamers don’t want to see these characters and these worlds realized on a large scale.

“It was a no-brainer for us. It’s not any secret formula. It’s just doing what everyone obviously wants.”

Despite being the creator of one of the most popular online games in the world, Riot Games has been in trouble for a few years.

The California-based company paid Female employees’ salaries last year This is the result of a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed in 2018 alleging gender discrimination.

The company laid off 530 employees earlier this year, with CEO Dylan Jadeja saying the company was making some “big bets” as it tries to expand beyond gaming didn’t go as planned.

Christian, who joined Riot as a music composer in 2010, said the Arcane project has not been affected too much and is still a small team of about 20 people.

But he admitted it was “really painful” to see long-time colleagues leave.

“I think the pandemic has made everyone think, ‘Oh, I think everyone is going to be at home forever and playing games all day long, and that’s definitely not going to change,'” he said.

“So I think the industry has to wake up.”

Christian said industry conditions are forcing companies to ask themselves tough questions and “give really good answers” to those questions, focusing on creating “truly great stuff, not just more of the same.”

Fans won’t know much more about Arcane’s story after season 2 ends, but Christian said they have plans to create more shows based on League of Legends, including updates to the game’s 167 playable characters. Lots of content.

Despite wider issues in the industry, there’s a huge demand for video game adaptations.

They overcame their reputation as low-quality products and, after a series of high-profile successes, were increasingly in demand.

Christian said he was happy to see his favorite childhood games – developer Blizzard’s Warcraft and StarCraft – getting the TV series treatment.

He hopes Arcane’s success will inspire other creators to avoid “just trying to fit into Hollywood and really find their own path.”

“We really just want to stay true to the feel of our game, our tone,” he said.

“We should keep video games. They’re different. And that’s okay. That’s what makes them so cool. So let’s embrace it.”

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