‘Arcane’ debuts at No. 1 spot on Netflix, dethrones ‘Squid Game’

Riot Games’ newly released League of Legends animated series “Arcane” has crossed its first major milestone, debuting in the No.1 spot globally among all TV shows on Netflix and dethroning streaming juggernaut “Squid Game” in the process.

‘Arcane’ debuts at No. 1 on Netflix

According to FlixPatrol, “Arcane” secured the No. 1 spot on the Netflix Top 10 in its first appearance. The series beat out other major streaming titles like “Squid Game” (No. 2), “Narcos: Mexico” (No. 3), “You” (No. 4) and “Maid” (No. 5). “Dynasty,” “Big Mouth,” “Locke & Key,” “My Name” and “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” rounded out the top 10.

Interestingly, “Arcane” only ranked at No. 6 in the United States, No. 8 in the United Kingdom and No. 3 in South Korea. The series reached the top spot on the global leaderboard in large part due to No. 1 ranks in 38 other markets across the globe, including Brazil, France, Germany and Russia.

Markets where ‘Arcane’ ranked No. 1:

• Argentina
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Bulgaria
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• Estonia
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Jamaica
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Norway
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Philippines
• Poland
• Romania
• Russia
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Thailand
• Ukraine
• Uruguay
• Venezuela
• Vietnam

What is ‘Arcane’?

Riot Games’ “Arcane” is the long-awaited animated series based on the company’s globally popular MOBA title League of Legends. The story focuses on the relationship between LoL characters Jinx and Vi. While telling the story of the two sisters, the series also focuses on the larger struggle between the fictional regions of Piltover, a bastion of tech and innovation, and Zaun, a ragged undercity rife with crime and poverty.

“Arcane” premiered on Saturday with Act 1, featuring the first three episodes of the series. While we won’t get into spoilers here, for those that have already watched the first three episodes, and are looking for more reading, we broke down some of the most popular questions and biggest fan theories to come out of the first Act.

‘Arcane’ crosses over into all of Riot’s titles

Riot Games celebrated the launch of “Arcane” with major events in both the real world and in its video game universe. From free giveaways in all five of its games, to in-game events unlocking new playable content, to promotional deals with real-world companies like Compartés Chocolatier, Epic Games’ Fortnite and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, Riot truly went all out.

With Act 2 set to release on Nov. 13, it remains to be seen what else Riot has in store.