League of Legends and Twitch Streamers Fuel Latest Netflix Hit

League of Legends gaming world championship sets viewer record
Netflix anime show based on League universe off to fast start

Members of EDward Gaming celebrate after winning the League of Legends World Championship Final.
Photographer: Clive Rose/Riot Games Inc./Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Vlad Savov and Zheping Huang

November 8, 2021 at 4:41 AM UTC

Updated on

November 8, 2021 at 8:35 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Tencent Holdings Ltd. pulled off a pair of successes for its League of Legends franchise over the weekend, with a raucous e-sports tournament that drew more viewers than ever before and the strong debut for a new video series on Netflix.

“Arcane,” an anime series based on the League fantasy universe, premiered to an overwhelmingly positive response, garnering 130 million views in China within a few hours and becoming the most searched item on Tencent’s streaming site. Globally, the show -- co-created by the Tencent-owned game maker Riot Games Inc. -- is streamed on Netflix Inc.’s service as well as Amazon.com Inc.’s Twitch.