Who created Arcane?

Christian Linke and Alex Yee are the creators of Arcane.

Arcane is an animated adventure show produced by Riot Games and Fortiche. Riot Games is the company behind the hit video game League of Legends. The show is created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee. The show premiered on Netflix in November 2021 and quickly became a global hit. Within a week of its premiere, Arcane became Netflix's highest-rated series. It ranked first on the Netflix Top 10 Chart in 52 countries and was the second most-watched show in the United States. The series was developed by Riot Games in collaboration with Fortiche Productions, a French animation studio known for its unique style.

The story of the show is set in the League of Legends universe. It shows the story of 2 cities, Piltover and Zaun. Piltover is a wealthy and advanced city, and Zaun is a struggling and dangerous undercity. Arcane explores the complex relationship between two sisters, Jinx and Vi, while showing themes like social inequality, power, and family bonds. It took six years to create the show, with the creators combining amazing animation, deep storytelling, and emotional character arcs. Arcane was praised by both fans and critics for its visuals, music, and complex narrative, making it one of the most successful video game adaptations ever. Let’s take a look at the creators of Arcane.

Christian Linke

Christian Linke was born on March 11, 1987, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. He is the co-creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the Netflix series Arcane and he also won an Emmy Award for it. Christian has been working with the Riot Games company since its early days and played a major role in shaping the music and storytelling of League of Legends. As the showrunner and co-creator of Arcane, he brought his deep understanding of the game’s world and characters to the series. He worked closely with the animation team at Fortiche Productions to ensure the show’s emotional depth and stunning visuals.

Music is an important part of the series and being a music composer for Arcane, he played an important part in the process. In an interview with Teen Vogue, he said, “I think it was natural for us. It was just like, “Hey, every episode, we just kind of look for where music made sense.” And that's just kind of where those spots ended up. So it wasn't so much of a big decision. A lot of these things you just have to, with just organic what feels right, you lean into what you want to do. So yeah, I would say it came out of this relationship that we've had with Fortiche.”

Alex Yee

Alex Yee is one of the co-creators of Arcane and a long-time writer at Riot Games. He started working with them 12 years ago as a player support specialist and later became a creative designer. Alex Yee played a key role in crafting the narrative for Arcane, focusing on creating deep, emotional connections between the characters while exploring complex themes like family and social inequality. He is most proud of helping create champions like Riven, Thresh, Draven, Leona, Graves, and Lulu. His expertise in storytelling and his deep knowledge of the League of Legends universe were essential in making the show a global success.

He worked on League of Legends by developing its story, writing scripts, and designing concepts. While working for Arcane it was important to do the transition from game to series smoothly. He shared the process of transitioning with Deadline, he said “For me, I spent a lot of time working on the world-building of the different champions that were added to the game. There are always so many stories that we dreamed of being able to tell for such a long time, but due to the nature of the game it always felt like there was so much left to be explored.”

Read more: Where to watch Arcane?