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Fortiche

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fortiche Production SAS
TypePrivate
IndustryAnimation
FoundedJune 3, 2009; 17 years ago (2009-06-03)
Founders
  • Pascal Charrue
  • Jérôme Combe
  • Arnaud Delord
Headquarters
Paris
,
France
Number of locations
3
Products
Revenue16,261,500 euro (2020) Edit this on Wikidata
Number of employees
350 (2022)
Websiteforticheprod.com Edit this at Wikidata

Fortiche Production SAS is a French animation studio headquartered in Paris with a branch in Montpellier and Las Palmas (Spain). It features a team of up to 450 people across creation, direction, and production. The studio is now expanding into original IP development and major international productions.

Founded in 2009 in Paris, the studio is renowned for its signature 2D/3D hybrid aesthetic. The studio is best known for its long-standing collaboration with Riot Games, having produced the hit series Arcane and several cinematics and music videos for League of Legends since 2013. Fortiche also produced music videos for high-profile artists such as Stromae, Pomme, Coldplay and Gorillaz.

Development

[edit]

Fortiche Production SAS was founded in 2009 and initially created music videos and commercials. This work, rooted in Jerome's Combe's work with Stéphane Hamache and André Bessy built the trademark style: a combination of 2D and 3D animation has defined the studio's style, the "Touche Fortiche".[1]

They moved on to creating music videos for Freak Kitchen, Gorillaz and LIMOUSINE. These projects caught the attention of Riot Games.[2] Together, they produced their first League of Legends promotional video, Get Jinxed. The video was a hit with the MOBA community.For the latter, Fortiche produced game trailers in the form of short films along with music videos, most notably Pop/Stars.[3]

Other works include the title sequence for the Rabbids Invasion animated series[4] and the 55-minute historical documentary film Le dernier Gaulois about the Gallic Wars animated by Fortiche, aired in 2015 by the French channel France 2 broadcast. Motion capture technology was used for this.[5]

At the 2017 industry fair Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux, the studio pitched the feature film project Miss Saturne with a pilot short film.[6]

Arcane

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In November 2021, Fortiche, in collaboration with Riot Games, released the series Arcane set in the League of Legends-universe on the streaming platforms Netflix and in China on Tencent Video. It was the world's most-watched series on Netflix for two weeks in November 2021 and was extremely well received by critics.[7][8]

During the six year creation of Arcane, staff numbers grew from around 15 to around 300.[9] The studio expanded in 2020 with branches in Montpellier and Las Palmas. The studio's revenue rose to €16.4 million for 2021.[10] Le Figaro reported that the budget of Arcane was €60–80 million.[11] In November 2021 Riot-Games-CEO Nicolo Laurent announced via Twitter that a second season was commissioned from Fortiche.[12] The second and final season premiered on November 9, 2024 and concluded on November 23. In total, 700 people worked on the series at various points throughout its eight-year production cycle.[13]

On March 14, 2022, Riot Games announced a new equity investment in Fortiche Production.[14] Under the terms of the investment, Riot now holds a significant non-controlling stake in Fortiche. Brian Wright (Chief Content Officer at Riot) and Brendan Mulligan (Director of Corporate Development at Riot) have also joined Fortiche's board of directors.[15]

Original productions

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Penelope of Sparta

[edit]

In 2023, Fortiche announced the development of its first original animated feature film, Penelope of Sparta. The film is described as a reimagining of The Odyssey set within a science-fiction and fantasy universe. The plot serves as a prequel to Homer’s epic poem, focusing on the teenage years of Penelope and Odysseus.[16]

Miss Saturne (Mini-series)

[edit]

At the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Fortiche announced the development of the animated mini-series Miss Saturne, a collaboration with Arte Numérique and Les Storygraphes.[17] Originally conceived as a feature film and presented at Cartoon Movie in 2017, the production has since been reformatted into ten ten-minute episodes.[18] Adapted from the novel by Barbara Israël, the series is aimed at teenagers and young adults, featuring an aesthetic heavily influenced by 1980s New wave music. The story follows 16-year-old Mercy and her companion, Tom, as they flee their past aboard a night train departing from Nice. The series will explore themes of adolescence, grief, and identity formation.

Filmography

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Films

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  • Le dernier Gaulois (2015) – TV Movie[5]
  • Penelope of Sparta (in development)[19]

Television series

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Music videos

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Video game cinematics

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  • "A Dark Gambit" (2025) - Cinematic launching the 2025 League of Legends competitive season
  • "Beginning of the End" (2025) - Mid-season cinematic for League of Legends
  • "Twilight's End" (2025) - Concluding cinematic for the 2025 League of Legends competitive season

Exhibitions

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2023: "Eternal Mucha" Exhibition at the Grand Palais Immersif

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From March 22 to November 5, 2023, Fortiche participated in the "Eternal Mucha" exhibition at the Grand Palais Immersif in Paris. The studio presented pre-production assets from the Arcane series to illustrate the profound influence of Alphonse Mucha’s Art Nouveau style on the show's art direction.[25]

2025: First Exhibition dedicated to Arcane in Montpellier

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The first-ever exhibition solely dedicated to the creation of Arcane was held from January 27 to February 21, 2025, at Montpellier City Hall. Organized in collaboration with Riot Games and the City of Montpellier, this event allowed visitors to explore the series through original artwork, storyboards, and final renders, illustrating the entire visual development pipeline.[26]

2025: Annecy Festival Exhibition

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As part of the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Fortiche and Riot Games, in partnership with CITIA and the City of Annecy, presented an exhibition from June 8 to 14 at the UBA Pâquier site. The showcase featured original concepts, visual development art, set designs, and audiovisual content retracing every stage of the production process.[27]

Main awards

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Award Year Production Number of awards Detail
Primetime Emmy Awards 2025 Arcane, season 2
3
2022 Arcane, season 1
4
Annie Awards 2025 Arcane, season 2
6
2022 Arcane, season 1
7

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "All about". Fortiche Production. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  2. ↑ "Les Français de Fortiche bousculent l'animation avec « Arcane »" [The French from Fortiche are shaking up animation with “Arcane”]. Le Monde (in French). 2021-11-04. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  3. ↑ "Interview avec Arnaud Delord, co-fondateur de Fortiche et réalisateur sur la série Arcane" [Interview with Arnaud Delord, co-founder of Fortiche and director on the Arcane series]. Breakflip (in French). 7 November 2021. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  4. ↑ "Rabbids Invasion - Company Credits". IMDB. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
  5. 1 2 "Des Gaulois comme on ne les a jamais vus sur France 2" [Gauls as we have never seen them on France 2]. Telerama (in French). 2015-12-29. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  6. ↑ "About". Cartoon Movie. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  7. ↑ "Netflix Top 10 - Global". Netflix. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  8. ↑ "Arcane: League of Legends", Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved 2023-02-27
  9. ↑ Wit, Alex Dudok de (2022-01-05). "The Secret To 'Arcane' Studio Fortiche's Success: It's Owned By Artists". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  10. ↑ Lesniak, Isabelle (2021-11-18). "Fortiche, le nouveau roi français de l'animation" [Fortiche, the new French king of animation]. Les Echos (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  11. ↑ Kerkour, Tom (2021-12-10). "Arcane: un petit studio français derrière la série d'animation la plus chère du monde" [Arcane: a small French studio behind the most expensive animation series in the world]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  12. ↑ Nicolo Laurent [@niiicolo] (20 November 2021). "So yeah, we are working on #arcane season 2. The good news: you won't have to wait for 6 years (the time it took us to making season 1) The bad news: it's not coming in 2022 😢" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ "Fin de la série Arcane : qui est Fortiche, le studio d'animation français derrière la série à succès ?". France 3 Paris Ile-de-France (in French). 2024-11-16. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  14. ↑ Stubbs, Mike. "Riot Games Invests In 'Arcane' Animation Studio Fortiche Production". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  15. ↑ "Riot Games Announces New Equity Investment in "Arcane" Animation Studio Fortiche Production". Riot Games. 14 March 2022.
  16. ↑ Lang, Jamie (2024-06-11). "'Arcane' Animation Studio Fortiche Production Preps Sci-Fi Feature 'Penelope of Sparta,' Inspired by Greek Mythology (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  17. ↑ Lang, Jamie (2025-06-10). "'Arcane' Producer Fortiche Teaming With ARTE France on Coming-of-Age Mini-Series 'Miss Saturne'". Variety. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  18. ↑ "Cartoon Movie 2017 : petite sélection (projets de long-métrages d'animation européens) - News | Catsuka". www.catsuka.com (in French). Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  19. ↑ Lang, Jamie (10 June 2024). "'Arcane' Animation Studio Fortiche Production Preps Sci-Fi Feature 'Penelope of Sparta,' Inspired by Greek Mythology (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  20. ↑ "Arcane was inspired by these anime that only 90s kids know | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  21. ↑ "Watch the Hurts Like Heaven video now!". 8 October 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  22. ↑ "La Gaviota". Fortiche Production. 13 April 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  23. ↑ "Welcome to Noxus - Bite Marks (Ft. TEYA) | 2025 Season 1 Cinematic - League of Legends". YouTube.
  24. ↑ "Stromae, Pomme - "Ma Meilleure Ennemie" (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Music Video]". YouTube.
  25. ↑ Collombat, Juliette (2024-12-03). "Comment la série « Arcane » sur Netflix, avec son esthétique Art nouveau, a révolutionné le dessin d'animation". Beaux Arts (in French). Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  26. ↑ "Exposition "Dans les coulisses de la série Arcane", à Montpellier". AFJV (in French). 2025-02-04. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  27. ↑ "En images. Exposition événement à Annecy : un plongeon dans les coulisses de la série d'animation Arcane". www.ledauphine.com (in French). 2025-06-09. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
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