Netflix’s League of Legends show Arcane is affecting character’s pick rates in game

The successful release of the Netflix League of Legends prequel series Arcane looks to be affecting the pick rates of characters in the game itself.

The sisters Vi and Jinx, who get a lot of screen time on Arcane, witnessed a huge increase in their pick rates. According to League of Graphs, Vi’s pick rate has increased 5.2 percent since the last patch, bringing her overall pick rate to 8.4 percent against all other 150+ champions. All ranked matches in Iron or higher, from all regions, are included in these statistics.

Prior to the show, Jinx already had a high pick rate, but she’s also witnessed an increase in players choosing the AD carry. Jinx’s overall popularity has risen to 15 percent, the tenth most picked in the game, thanks to a 4.3 percent increase in pick rate.

Caitlyn, another bottom laner in the series, has risen to become the sixth most popular champion. According to League of Graphs, she makes up 16.4 percent of all picks in League of Legends having witnessed a 3.3 percent growth since the show’s release.

Following Arcane’s second act, Jayce has gained the greatest popularity. Since the last patch, the top lane champion has seen a +6.3 percent rise in play. Meanwhile, Viktor and Heimerdinger, have only experienced minor improvements in pick rate.

The show had an impact on more than just these champions’ pick rates—victory and ban rates were also affected. With a negative 1.14 percent win rate, Jayce had the most significant decline in win rate, despite having the highest increase in picks. Vi’s and Jinx’s ban rates have both increased, with Vi’s currently standing at 3.8 percent and Jinx’s at 2.9 percent.

Arcane has unquestionably increased League‘s already large player base. Several champions live in the fictional twin cities of Piltover and Zaun in the animated series. Despite the fact that many of the playable characters in Arcane have existed in League of Legends for a long time, their pick rates have soared since the game’s introduction. (Read: Riot set to reveal their League of Legends fighting game soon)

Arcane, which is set to have its third act drop on November 20, is just the first of many new League of Legends spinoffs, including new shows, in the works. With the numbers shown here, the long-running game may be entering into an era where its meta ends up being shaped by related media.

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