WEBVTT - Why Riot Games’ Entertainment Ambitions Stalled Beyond ‘Arcane’

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in

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<v Speaker 1>which we speak with some of the brightest minds working

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<v Speaker 1>in the media business today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety.

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<v Speaker 1>We're doing something a little different this week, revisiting a

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<v Speaker 1>previous episode of Strictly Business from two years ago with

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<v Speaker 1>some new information that will make for an interesting reconsideration

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<v Speaker 1>of what we heard then from my guests, a pair

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<v Speaker 1>of top executives at Riot Games. But the conversation was

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<v Speaker 1>less about the state of video games and more about

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<v Speaker 1>their ambitions than to produce TV and film. They were

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<v Speaker 1>coming off the successful launch of their first animated series

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<v Speaker 1>on Netflix, and we're signaling they wanted to do more

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<v Speaker 1>now that series is back for a second season, which

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<v Speaker 1>got me wondering why we hadn't seen any other entertainment

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<v Speaker 1>from this company. Well, now that I've done some asking around,

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<v Speaker 1>I've got plenty to share. Stick around. We'll be back

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<v Speaker 1>in just a moment with an exclusive update that goes

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<v Speaker 1>inside Riot Games. Welcome back to Strictly Business. November ninth

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<v Speaker 1>marks the return to Netflix of the animated series Arcane.

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<v Speaker 1>To return Piece to the City, you Must Declare Martial Law,

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<v Speaker 1>top side is the real enemy.

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<v Speaker 2>You have the chance to rally the under city together

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<v Speaker 2>your symbol, So what.

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<v Speaker 1>Are you planning? Arcane turned out to be a hit

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<v Speaker 1>back in season one, reaching number one among TV shows

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<v Speaker 1>and eighty five Netflix markets around the world. It also

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<v Speaker 1>swept awards in its category in twenty twenty two, including

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<v Speaker 1>the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Series. So when I sat

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<v Speaker 1>down almost exactly two years ago with Riot Games co

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<v Speaker 1>founder and chief product officer Mark Merrill, as well as

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<v Speaker 1>its lead entertainment executive Shanna Spenley to talk about their

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<v Speaker 1>ambitions in the entertainment space, I was not surprised to

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<v Speaker 1>hear they had big but preliminary plans to do more productions,

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<v Speaker 1>even outside in animation and even in movie form. But

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<v Speaker 1>two years later, yours what did end up surprising me?

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<v Speaker 1>Nothing seemed to come of all that ambition. So I

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<v Speaker 1>got to checking back with sources in and around the

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<v Speaker 1>company to understand just why that was. And that's what

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<v Speaker 1>I'll explore in great detail today, along with some excerpts

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<v Speaker 1>from that twenty twenty two interview with Riot Games. First,

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<v Speaker 1>let me just hit some of the key points we'll

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<v Speaker 1>be exploring further in this episode. What I learned about

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<v Speaker 1>Riot's efforts and entertainment was that despite hiring a team

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<v Speaker 1>of executives experienced in the ways of entertainment to focus

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<v Speaker 1>on building out a slate of programming based on Riot

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<v Speaker 1>intellectual property, just like Arcane, not a single project beyond

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<v Speaker 1>that show has been fully developed. Riot is no closer

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<v Speaker 1>to putting project into production as season two of Arcane

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<v Speaker 1>begins than when season one ended, and by the way,

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<v Speaker 1>there won't be a season three of Arcane either. Why

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<v Speaker 1>did Riot Games not end up making good on its ambition, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a number of key reasons. When the CEO who

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<v Speaker 1>was driving the entertainment effort back then, Niccolo Laurent, unexpectedly

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<v Speaker 1>stepped down last year, new leadership pulled back on its

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<v Speaker 1>entertainment plans. The entertainment division also faced plenty of skepticism

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<v Speaker 1>up and down a company that had many who preferred

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<v Speaker 1>to keep Riot focused on its core competency in video games.

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<v Speaker 1>That entertainment division was also practically dissolved as part of

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<v Speaker 1>a broader restructuring that the company announced last year under

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<v Speaker 1>a new CEO. But in an interview with Mark merrill

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<v Speaker 1>I conducted recently over me email, he defended Riot's track

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<v Speaker 1>record in entertainment and said the company was still very

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<v Speaker 1>much committed to producing for TV and film, but on

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<v Speaker 1>its own timeline. Now, before we dig in any further,

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<v Speaker 1>let's provide some background about Riot Games, for which beating

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<v Speaker 1>Hollywood at its own game is really far from a

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<v Speaker 1>first priority. The bread and butter is its video game business,

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<v Speaker 1>responsible for driving an estimated three billion dollars in top

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<v Speaker 1>line revenue last year, and the allion's share of that

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<v Speaker 1>comes from the game that put Riot on the map

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<v Speaker 1>back in two thousand and nine when it first launched,

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<v Speaker 1>called League of Legends. Now, for those living under rocks

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<v Speaker 1>who have never heard of this gaming behemoth, here's Mark

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<v Speaker 1>Merrill from my twenty twenty two interview explaining what League

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<v Speaker 1>of Legend is all about.

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<v Speaker 3>The easiest way to contextualize what League Legends is is

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<v Speaker 3>really to compare it to a sport, because the game

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<v Speaker 3>itself is relatively simple, and that there's essentially what you

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<v Speaker 3>do as a player is you join up with another

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<v Speaker 3>four players, and you play against another team of five players,

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<v Speaker 3>and you essentially are choosing what we call a champion

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<v Speaker 3>to be for that game session, which lasts anwhere from

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<v Speaker 3>thirty to forty five minutes, and then the depth of

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<v Speaker 3>engagement really comes from the fact that you're leveling up,

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<v Speaker 3>you're trying to kill other players. Essentially, if you it's

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<v Speaker 3>sort of mode analogous to say basketball, where you know

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<v Speaker 3>the court and the rules are relatively simple, but every

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<v Speaker 3>game is different because there's so much player express creativity

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<v Speaker 3>and so League has you know, little over three billion

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<v Speaker 3>monthly hours of engagement, you know, just playing the game.

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<v Speaker 3>And so one of the things that's also important to

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<v Speaker 3>understand about League is that it is a very hardcore game,

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<v Speaker 3>and that it is you know, we always thought about

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<v Speaker 3>it as a targeting niche, and it turned out that,

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<v Speaker 3>especially on a global stage, you know, that niche was

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<v Speaker 3>much larger than we ever anticipated. And so the game

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<v Speaker 3>operates as a service. It's completely free, and you know,

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<v Speaker 3>you never have to spend any money in the game

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<v Speaker 3>if you don't want to. And our business has really

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<v Speaker 3>premised upon actually selling cosmetic virtual goods, and so it

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<v Speaker 3>was incredibly difficult to raise money back in two thousand

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<v Speaker 3>and six and thousand and seven when Brandon and I

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<v Speaker 3>are twenty four and twenty five start in the company,

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<v Speaker 3>because you know, as one VC put it. They're like, wait,

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<v Speaker 3>you're going to have a multiplayer online battle arena game

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<v Speaker 3>where college age kids are killing each other online. And

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<v Speaker 3>then the way you're gonna make money, they're gonna playdress

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<v Speaker 3>up all and we're like, kind of but not really,

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<v Speaker 3>and they're yeah, good luck with that, and so you know,

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<v Speaker 3>but it turned out to work.

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<v Speaker 1>So now that you understand the business model, you have

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<v Speaker 1>the context for understanding Arcane, a TV show adapted from

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<v Speaker 1>the League of Legends intellectual property. The show was the

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<v Speaker 1>brainchild of Christian Link and Alex Yee, members of Riot's

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<v Speaker 1>players support team, who had no experience producing a TV show,

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<v Speaker 1>but they drew from the Legends mythology, and in twenty sixteen,

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<v Speaker 1>Riot took a flyer on them and gave them permission

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<v Speaker 1>to create a pilot with a company called Fortisch, which

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<v Speaker 1>was a Paris based animation studio that the company had

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<v Speaker 1>worked with on previously, but for nothing as big as

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<v Speaker 1>a television show, and they were lucky enough to strike

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<v Speaker 1>gold right out of the gate. Our Kane was a

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<v Speaker 1>hit for Netflix. We're going to take a quick break,

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<v Speaker 1>but when we're back more on Riot Games, Our Kine

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<v Speaker 1>and the entertainment strategy that hasn't quite gotten off the ground.

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<v Speaker 1>We are back and I am going to continue my

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<v Speaker 1>exploration into riot games. With the success of Arcane putting

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<v Speaker 1>riot games on the Hollywood map, it's a no brainer

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<v Speaker 1>that ambition soon kicked in for more. The company recruited

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<v Speaker 1>some experienced entertainment executives from Disney, Paramount, HBO, Max, and

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<v Speaker 1>most notably Netflix, which is where SHAWNA. Spenley came after

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen years as a marketing executive there. She was named

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<v Speaker 1>president of Global Entertainment at the end of twenty twenty,

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<v Speaker 1>and she in turn brought other Netflix executives in to

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<v Speaker 1>work on this new slate of programming. Back in twenty

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<v Speaker 1>twenty two, I talked with Spenley and Merrill about what

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<v Speaker 1>it took to put together a successful team in entertainment.

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<v Speaker 2>So you talk about the team, I'm curious what the

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<v Speaker 2>infrastructure is. Do you have now a separate TV division?

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<v Speaker 2>Are you bringing in lots of Hollywood types or you're like,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, we don't want to be infected by the conventional.

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<v Speaker 3>Well we we if they want to learn from the

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<v Speaker 3>tremendous expertise. So we brought in a lot of great

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<v Speaker 3>people who have great backgrounds in Hollywood as well. But

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<v Speaker 3>getting the blend right of course is very important.

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<v Speaker 4>But yeah, look, I think it's funny. I remember being

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<v Speaker 4>in a position being in a tech company and then

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<v Speaker 4>bringing in a whole bunch of Hollywood, and so it's

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<v Speaker 4>sort of weird joining another company and being the Hollywood

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<v Speaker 4>running in Like that was weird for me. But I

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<v Speaker 4>think our focus is really clear. Games right now are

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<v Speaker 4>such a massive part of the entertainment ecosystem, and we

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<v Speaker 4>all signed up to be a part of that ecosystem.

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<v Speaker 4>So I think from our perspective, we're really excited to

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<v Speaker 4>learn and develop together with game executives, and we're coming

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<v Speaker 4>into it with a partnership frame of mind. So it's

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<v Speaker 4>not it doesn't feel odd at all, does it. I mean,

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<v Speaker 4>it feels like we are building a really strong team

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<v Speaker 4>that partners together across both.

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<v Speaker 3>Dimensions well, and when we're creating scripted entertainment, it's like

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<v Speaker 3>our players' expectations, of course, and the audience expectations aren't

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<v Speaker 3>just set by what we do. I mean they watch

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<v Speaker 3>lots of TV and great movies, and so they're set

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<v Speaker 3>by what everybody in this room does. And what the

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<v Speaker 3>whole industry does. And so you know, our challenge has

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<v Speaker 3>been how do we create something that can you know,

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<v Speaker 3>stand shoulder to shoulder with these other incredible properties, which

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<v Speaker 3>of course is just is really hard. And so that's

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<v Speaker 3>where you know, again, I think the luxury of being

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<v Speaker 3>able to take time and find the right team and

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<v Speaker 3>sort of experiment and learn has been tremendously helpful.

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<v Speaker 1>Spenley made clear she saw Riot as ground zero for

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<v Speaker 1>the inevitable intersection for entertainment in games, but pledged patients

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<v Speaker 1>and properly exploiting the Marvel scale trove of hundreds of

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<v Speaker 1>game characters at her disposal. She and Mark Merrill discussed

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<v Speaker 1>the incredible potential they saw in all that ip back

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<v Speaker 1>in that twenty twenty two.

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<v Speaker 2>Interview, and just a few days ago we learn in

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<v Speaker 2>a Variety exclusive that you has hired a live action executive.

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<v Speaker 1>Man and pitch her.

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<v Speaker 2>So clearly there's some broader ambitions here. I know you're

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<v Speaker 2>not necessarily going to speak to particulars, but do you

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<v Speaker 2>guys have a sense now like, Okay, we're we're going

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<v Speaker 2>to ramp up a whole slate in the next ten years,

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<v Speaker 2>Like what are you thinking.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, one of the things that's exciting is ourcane takes

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<v Speaker 3>place in one area in our world and with eight characters,

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<v Speaker 3>and we have close to one hundred and sixty characters

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<v Speaker 3>now in a much larger world, and so the storytelling

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<v Speaker 3>possibilities to develop who these characters are and the relationships

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<v Speaker 3>and sort of the timeline is, you know, we think

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<v Speaker 3>are vast and immense, and part of our challenge is,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, how do we do that well? And it's

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<v Speaker 3>been really exciting for us to cultivate this again incredibly

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<v Speaker 3>rich animation pipeline. But that's that's one medium, and you

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<v Speaker 3>know there are other, of course mediums that may be

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<v Speaker 3>able to do an incredible job of telling these stories also,

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<v Speaker 3>and those are things that we're committed to exploring.

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<v Speaker 2>You say that, and I immediately think of two words,

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<v Speaker 2>cinematic universe or marvel this field of characters, like are

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<v Speaker 2>you looking to companies like that in terms of like, Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>we've got to build this bible over X number of

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<v Speaker 2>characters and wine number of years.

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<v Speaker 4>We hear that phrase a lot inside our company too,

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<v Speaker 4>and I think we try to just stay patient and

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<v Speaker 4>pace it because we're obviously inspired by Marvel and Lord

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<v Speaker 4>of the Rings and and Harry Potter and Game of Thrones.

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<v Speaker 4>They're they're incredibly inspiring and and clearly audiences are asking

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<v Speaker 4>for these interconnected, intertwined universes. So we can only aspire

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<v Speaker 4>to tell you know, phenomenal and great stories with this

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<v Speaker 4>vast world that we've that you know, they've created that

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<v Speaker 4>I get the pleasure of working inside of our team.

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<v Speaker 4>It's interesting. It's like we're not trying to tell too

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<v Speaker 4>big of a story too quickly. We really like these

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<v Speaker 4>little pockets of the universe. But I think, I think

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<v Speaker 4>we have a very long runway with IP like this.

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<v Speaker 4>As you all know, Star Wars is forty fifty years old,

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<v Speaker 4>Lord of the Rings older, and so multi generational IP

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<v Speaker 4>like this should go on for fifty to one hundred years,

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<v Speaker 4>and so we want to be really patient and treat

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<v Speaker 4>it with care.

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<v Speaker 3>And a lot of that goes into cultivating the internal

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<v Speaker 3>organizational competency around how to have so many different creators

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<v Speaker 3>and teams work effectively in a coordinated way within the IP.

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<v Speaker 3>And that's quite a challenge, and you know, as we

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<v Speaker 3>continue to grow, you know, find in different ways to

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<v Speaker 3>do that. But you know, I think we're benefited again

0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:44.840
<v Speaker 3>by the ability for us to really think long term

0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:50.240
<v Speaker 3>and try to be focused on again investing in the

0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.000
<v Speaker 3>IP rather than exploiting the IP for sort of a

0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:54.040
<v Speaker 3>short term benefit.

0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.280
<v Speaker 4>There's no immediate plan for you know, three pictures in

0:13:57.280 --> 0:13:59.520
<v Speaker 4>a year kind of a thing. I mean, we're we're

0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:04.240
<v Speaker 4>not in a pipeline way of thinking we want yet, No,

0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:09.560
<v Speaker 4>we really want high quality, excellent, and it were okay

0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:10.679
<v Speaker 4>if it takes time.

0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:14.960
<v Speaker 1>So after all that planning, what did happen to the

0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:19.840
<v Speaker 1>best laid plans in terms of the ambitions that Riot

0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:24.760
<v Speaker 1>had in entertainment. Well, first thing some context. What was

0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:28.520
<v Speaker 1>notable regarding Riot's approach in terms of what they wanted

0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.480
<v Speaker 1>to do in entertainment was the company held onto the

0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.920
<v Speaker 1>intellectual property it wanted to develop and bet that whatever

0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:38.160
<v Speaker 1>it lacked an experience of producing long form video content

0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:42.600
<v Speaker 1>could be compensated for by hiring that expertise from the outside.

0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.480
<v Speaker 1>And that strategy was a notable deviation from an era

0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:50.960
<v Speaker 1>of video game inspired entertainment that preceded the current hot streak.

0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:55.640
<v Speaker 1>This subgenre, if you'll call it, is enjoying from everything

0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:59.800
<v Speaker 1>from Max's The Last of Us to the twenty twenty

0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:02.600
<v Speaker 1>four were hit in cinemas this year. Five Nights at

0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:07.960
<v Speaker 1>Freddy's Studios were often criticized for their ham handling, handling

0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:11.600
<v Speaker 1>of properties they didn't really understand well enough to translate

0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:16.360
<v Speaker 1>to entertainment. Prince of Persia comes to mind, Super Mario

0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:19.600
<v Speaker 1>Brothers from nineteen ninety three, and do you remember those

0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:23.760
<v Speaker 1>Dwayne Johnson that Doom movie in two thousand and five.

0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:28.480
<v Speaker 1>I barely do myself. However, what made sense and theory

0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:31.840
<v Speaker 1>didn't work as well in reality at Riot. For one thing,

0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:34.840
<v Speaker 1>there was a disconnect between the entertainment team brought in

0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.400
<v Speaker 1>to bring Lorentz Laurent's vision to reality and the rest

0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:41.840
<v Speaker 1>of the company. Multiple sources I spoke to noted that

0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:45.520
<v Speaker 1>there were many skeptics who never bought in from a

0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:50.160
<v Speaker 1>management team with which the entertainment division never really gelled

0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.000
<v Speaker 1>to the Riot rank and file, many of whom were

0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:58.480
<v Speaker 1>hardcore gamers who largely saw entertainment as a distraction. By

0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:02.520
<v Speaker 1>May twenty twenty three, the CEO of Riot announced he

0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:08.920
<v Speaker 1>was leaving, and he was replaced by President Dylan Jadeja,

0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:14.080
<v Speaker 1>who insider say immediately began to reverse course on Laurent's

0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:19.000
<v Speaker 1>entertainment expansion, citing a renewed focus on the core gaming business.

0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:23.120
<v Speaker 1>The entertainment division, which was once one of five Riot

0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:27.960
<v Speaker 1>operating divisions with the company called Pillars, was essentially disbanded.

0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:31.680
<v Speaker 1>Leaders of various parts of the entertainment business scattered to

0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.560
<v Speaker 1>other parts of the company. In August of this year,

0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:39.720
<v Speaker 1>the company announced a restructuring that basically split development work

0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:45.240
<v Speaker 1>on its live action and animation efforts. At the same time, SHAWNA.

0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.600
<v Speaker 1>Spenley stepped down, referring to her exit in a memo

0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:53.720
<v Speaker 1>as a bittersweet decision. Just weeks later, she was rehired

0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:59.160
<v Speaker 1>at HBO Max, where she is now the CMO looking elsewhere.

0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:05.280
<v Speaker 1>It is interesting to note that the cost of Arcane

0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:10.760
<v Speaker 1>was two hundred and fifty million dollars, which is far

0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:15.400
<v Speaker 1>and away making it the most expensive animated series ever

0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:20.960
<v Speaker 1>on linear TV or streaming that covers eighteen episodes over

0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:26.720
<v Speaker 1>two seasons. Now, Arcane will certainly, almost certainly, I should say,

0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:31.000
<v Speaker 1>not be profitable for Riot. It's next impossible the company

0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.040
<v Speaker 1>is going to be able to make up for the

0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:38.119
<v Speaker 1>fact that despite a three million dollar per episode license

0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:42.240
<v Speaker 1>fee that Netflix paid for worldwide distribution rights and another

0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:46.679
<v Speaker 1>three million that Riot's parent company, ten Cent brought in

0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.680
<v Speaker 1>for China. The fact is all sorts of ancillary revenue

0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:54.719
<v Speaker 1>streams that weren't available during the first season of Arcane

0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:59.040
<v Speaker 1>will probably not come up, will probably come up short

0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.840
<v Speaker 1>in its attempt to help recoup the deficit of season two,

0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:07.199
<v Speaker 1>though company. The company does believe that break even is

0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:11.520
<v Speaker 1>a potential scenario as well. Now in terms of that

0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:15.600
<v Speaker 1>two hundred and fifty million dollars, that is something that

0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:21.840
<v Speaker 1>is covered across programming and marketing. Sources familiar with details

0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:24.880
<v Speaker 1>of the production said that the cost of the first

0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:29.280
<v Speaker 1>nine forty minute episodes ran north of eighty million, and

0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:32.760
<v Speaker 1>the second batch of nine that are beginning to air

0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:38.000
<v Speaker 1>now on Netflix cost nearly one hundred million. That's not

0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:42.159
<v Speaker 1>even the most eyebrow raising part. It is estimated that

0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:46.359
<v Speaker 1>Riot spent sixty million dollars of its own money to

0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:51.440
<v Speaker 1>just promote the first season of Arcane, which is exponentially

0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:53.960
<v Speaker 1>more than a studio would typically spend for a show

0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:59.280
<v Speaker 1>it isn't distributing, certainly more than what Netflix spent itself.

0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:02.399
<v Speaker 1>The company reason that it was going to have to

0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:07.600
<v Speaker 1>find audiences outside of the typical places that TV watchers

0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:13.399
<v Speaker 1>discover television as much of the turbulence as Riot has

0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.240
<v Speaker 1>experienced in recent years trying to get entertainment off the ground.

0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:22.359
<v Speaker 1>It hasn't discouraged the company. Mark Merrill, who did agree

0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:27.920
<v Speaker 1>to respond to questions via email, did reaffirm his commitment

0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.800
<v Speaker 1>to continuing in entertainment, and I'll read the quote he

0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:35.520
<v Speaker 1>gave me quote. Our ambitions in entertainment haven't changed. We

0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.639
<v Speaker 1>were never attending to operate like a traditional studio with

0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:42.439
<v Speaker 1>traditional timelines. What did change as we learned more was

0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:46.120
<v Speaker 1>our expectations of ourselves. We realized that getting it right

0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:49.000
<v Speaker 1>takes a lot more time than we did originally expected,

0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:53.240
<v Speaker 1>and so we recalibrated our development, output goals and teams

0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:56.280
<v Speaker 1>with that in mind. And as for that two hundred

0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.240
<v Speaker 1>and fifty million price tag, could not get the comment,

0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:02.879
<v Speaker 1>could not at the company to confirm, but Merrill himself

0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:06.320
<v Speaker 1>did say, we're more than comfortable with the spend it

0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:09.360
<v Speaker 1>took to deliver a show that was worthy of our

0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:13.199
<v Speaker 1>player's time. So there you have it, the story of

0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:17.280
<v Speaker 1>Arcane and Riot Games and what has gone on with

0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:21.280
<v Speaker 1>an entertainment strategy that has gone basically a wall over

0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:24.840
<v Speaker 1>recent years. Who knows what the future will bring. For

0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:28.080
<v Speaker 1>more on Riot Games than Arcane, I would refer you

0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:31.960
<v Speaker 1>back to Variety dot com, where a feature story includes

0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:34.359
<v Speaker 1>many of the elements we covered in this podcast, but

0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:38.479
<v Speaker 1>also some things that we did not, including an early

0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:44.840
<v Speaker 1>negotiation gone wrong with the famous Russo Brothers, the architects

0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:50.080
<v Speaker 1>of the Avenger franchise, and more commentary from Mark Merrill

0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:56.159
<v Speaker 1>addressing all the different allegations made in this story. Thanks

0:20:56.200 --> 0:21:03.160
<v Speaker 1>for tuning in, appreciate the time, Thanks for listening.

0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:07.280
<v Speaker 3>Be sure to leave us a review at Apple Podcasts.

0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:07.800
<v Speaker 2>Or Amazon Music.

0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:09.680
<v Speaker 3>We love to hear from listeners.

0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:12.320
<v Speaker 2>Please go to Variety dot com and sign up

0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:16.560
<v Speaker 1>For the free weekly Strictly Business newsletter, and don't forget

0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:20.160
<v Speaker 1>to tune in next week for another episode of Strictly

0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:20.680
<v Speaker 1>Business