“I have kids who are in their Disney phase right now,” Laurent said. “They’re watching Frozen, and they have the toys. They have the movie. They go to the theme park. And I’m like, I want to do this for gamers, for people who love our games.”

Riot Games has been seen as Tencent’s best investment yet – a deal which made the Chinese company an international video gaming giant. In 2011, the Shenzhen-based company bought a 93 per cent stake in Riot for US$400 million, acquiring the remaining 7 per cent in 2015.

With multiple hit titles, Riot Games is one of the world’s most successful video gaming companies. Its League of Legends generated US$1.75 billion in revenue last year, according to research firm SuperData.

While Chinese censors have been increasingly strict about regulating online content, Riot Games managed to release Arcane in mainland China at the same time as its international premiere.

“Arcane is a global launch. I think it’s the only TV show that was launched globally, including China,” Laurent said, “I don’t think any TV show was able to launch globally with China and the rest of the world together for its very first season … that’s tricky.”

In China, Arcane was released on Tencent’s own video streaming platform, Tencent Video. Netflix is not available in the country.

With nine episodes in its first season, Riot is slated to release the show’s final three episodes this weekend.

The company’s second signature game Valorant, a sci-fi shooting title, has yet to launch in China although it has been available in other markets since last June. Last month, Tencent announced that it would bring Valorant to the world’s biggest gaming market in the future, but whether it can secure a China release depends on the country’s regulators.

Laurent said Riot is well aware of the challenges.

“We are trying to make our games and our experience or TV show available everywhere in the world. That means navigating the complexities of the world, including the complexities of Asia,” he said.

“A lot of technical challenges, different cultures, localisation challenges, building teams … we have teams all around Asia, adjusting to different regulatory environments, which is sometimes tricky.”

Over the years, League of Legends has remained one of the most popular games in China.

Some university students were even spotted running naked on the streets in celebration, which ultimately triggered a warning from state media.

According to the tournament’s Chinese broadcast partner Bilibili, more than 100 million users watched League of Legends-related content on the platform during the tournament. Bilibili uploaders submitted over 400,000 videos related to League of Legends during the tournament, with total views surpassing 2.8 billion.

The League of Legends’ television adaptation comes amid a slew of video games franchises rushing to produce their own films and TV shows.

Japanese tech giant Sony has been working to turn its PlayStation franchises Uncharted and The Last of US into a movie and a TV series on HBO. Many other famous games, including Resident Evil, Castlevania, Monster Hunter and Warcraft, have all received cinematic treatment in recent years as gaming becomes a mainstream hobby.

But Laurent said that Riot Games’ approach differs from its competitors.

“I think a lot of companies are going out of video games to broaden their audience. That’s not what we’re doing,” Laurent said. “Our games are pretty hardcore, they’re not for casuals. They are not for my mom … If you see people who watch our show and go play League of Legends, good luck.”

He said that Riot’s goal with Arcane, rather, is to make the existing players’ experience more exciting.

“If the characters you play are more than just pixels, they’re actually a story with origins and depth … if your favourite game is also filling stadiums, and having a league every week, and it’s the sport you follow with your parents, that just makes the game so much better,” he said.