RIOTX
ARCANE
CREATIVE DIRECTOR / ART DIRECTOR
RIOT / RIOTXP
SUMMARY
A global month-long event hub from Riot Games, built as a living city with quests, mini-games and evolving narrative to celebrate the premiere of Arcane on Netflix.
I led the creative vision and experience design, shaping story arcs, in-game art direction and level design across the platform. The campaign drew millions of players worldwide, unified all Riot titles in one shared event, and set a new benchmark for cross-game experiences.
TYPE
Interactive Campaign
WebGL Experience
Digital World-Building
PROJECT
Client: RIOT Games
Studio: North Kingdom
Year: 2023
WHAT I DID
Creative Direction
Narrative Design
Visual Development
Audio Direction
Team Leadership
Trailer Direction
AWARDS
FWA – Top 100
FWA – Site of the day
Awwwards – Honorable Mention
CSS Awards – Innovation
CASE STUDY
CHALLENGE
Riot Games wanted a digital experience to celebrate the launch of Arcane. The initial brief was simple: “a city on the web”, but the real challenge was to make it authentic across Riot’s entire ecosystem.
The experience needed to represent Arcane while also weaving in elements from League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, Valorant, Wild Rift, and Legends of Runeterra, each with its own creative owners, aesthetics, and narrative expectations. The task was to unify these perspectives into one coherent, engaging world that could stand as the centerpiece of the launch.
MY ROLE
As Creative & Experience Director, I co-developed the core concept with the product owner and defined the narrative, world-building and artdirection of the project. I designed every district, set the visual direction, and curated all art, audio, music, and 3D assets.
I also led a large interdisciplinary team and multiple subcontractors, providing creative direction across all disciplines while collaborating directly with Riot’s IP owners to ensure both fidelity and some much needed irreverence.
RESULT
The project evolved into a fully explorable WebGL city with seven evolving districts. It attracted 9M+ unique visitors (vs. 600k projected) with an average engagement of 5.3 minutes per session.
It became one of Riot’s largest narrative activations, and one of the worlds most ambitious WebGL experiences, earning multiple top industry awards.
READ MORE
THE CITY
We designed and produced an entire city with various unique districts in WebGL as an immersive in-browser 3D experience for the RIOT fans to explore and interact with. Evolving over time, players embarked on a narrative adventure and solved missions to earn in-game rewards.
- A browser based 3D city with seven districts unlocking over time
- A big amount of characters in every district
- A narrative adventure taking players through all the places on the map
- Rewards and easter eggs hidden all over the place
- Original artwork and sound design making the experience it’s own thing
During the campaign the city grew and transformed through missions completed by players until it physically manifested at the campaign’s experiential climax at a celebration called Undercity Nights.
THE ART
Directing the visual language of the RiotX Arcane city, designing its districts, environments, and UI while curating art, audio, and 3D contributions from multiple studios and subcontractors, was a blast.
A key part of the work was aligning with Riot’s IP owners across Arcane, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, Valorant, Wild Rift, and Legends of Runeterra—each with their own vision of how the world should be represented. My role was to unify these perspectives into a coherent, evolving WebGL world that felt authentic to every franchise while still delivering something entirely new.
THE NARRATIVE
Together with RIOT, I defined the narrative and world-building of the RiotX Arcane city, creating a progression structure that unfolded across seven evolving districts. Each district revealed new layers of story, tying into Arcane while weaving in threads from all the represented IPs.
Working with Riot’s IP owners, I ensured the world building respected each franchise while contributing to a unified launch narrative. The result was an interactive experience where exploration and story progression kept millions of players engaged over time.
EXPERIENCE FEATURES
- Six explorable 3D districts plus a central hub
- 24 interactive characters with branching interactions
- Seven hidden rooms with lore and surprises
- 35 Easter eggs woven into the environment
- Three mini-games designed around Arcane themes
- 21 tasks and quests driving progression and exploration
- Narrative arcs evolving in real time over the month
- Social and community-driven elements amplifying discovery and sharing
LINKS
- RIOT Article →
- Youtube Videos →
RIOTX ARCANE DISTRICTS OVERVIEW
WRAP UP
Taking care of a project of this scale was only possible because Riot trusted us to push beyond safe choices. It was a challenge worth every step, and I’m proud of the result, not just for what it achieved, but for the way it showed the power of brave clients and committed teams