Riot Co-Founder Responds to Fans Begging for Arcane Skins to Return to Fortnite
Fortnite's Arcane Season 1 skins brought plenty of entertainment to the fandom and countless TikTok memes. For months after Season 2's release, fans have requested that the cosmetics return to the game, even contacting Riot Games team members. As of April 16 2025, a Riot Games Co-Founder has issued a response: unfortunately for Fortnite fans, Arcane skins will not return "in the foreseeable future." Let's explore everything we know about this development and why it may have occurred.
Arcane Skins in Fortnite: A Zaun-expected Collab
In November of 2021, Season 1 of Riot Games' animated League of Legends series Arcane was released. To celebrate the occasion, Riot Games and competing studio Epic Games joined forces in an unexpected collab: for a brief period, Arcane's main character Jinx was available as a Fortnite skin beginning on November 4, with Vi soon following on January 22 2022. Alongside the skins, players could obtain accompanying themed back bling, pickaxes and emotes.
The two outfits became quite popular as Arcane skyrocketed into pop culture fame. In November 2024, Arcane's second half was released. This season reached similar critical acclaim and attracted even more fans. After Arcane's resurgence, Riot Games renewed its themed drops in its titles including League of Legends and VALORANT. However, fans were particularly interested in whether the Fortnite Arcane skins would return — many had recently joined the Arcane fandom, and the Fortnite skins became iconic since TikTokers enthusiastically used the costumes in custom worlds to create memes.
Riot Co-Founder Confirms: Arcane Fortnite Skins Won't Return Anytime Soon
While Riot Games did not confirm or deny a return, communications with fans indicated they would work with Epic Games to attempt to bring the Arcane skins back into rotation. Riot Co-Founder and League of Legends Co-Creator Marc 'Riot Tryndamere' Merrill was part of this process, often updating fans on X.com about negotiation developments:
As an update to all of the players that have been pinging us on the Arcane skin status, I wanted to circle back with you all.
— Tryndamere (@MarcMerrill) April 17, 2025
Rewinding back to 2021, when we first teamed up with Epic to bring Jinx and Vi to Fortnite, it was a new kind of crossover for us and we hope it helped…
On April 16 2025, Riot Tryndamere posted a final update about the Arcane Fortnite skin renewal progress, although it wasn't the update fans wanted. Merrill indicated that the Riot Games team had been in communication with Epic Games about the issue, saying "we’ve had a lot of conversations with Epic about what might be possible." However, he announced that these discussions would not result in adding the Arcane skins back "in the foreseeable future":
"They’ve been great partners, but we haven’t been able to find the right fit to bring the Arcane skins back and it unfortunately won’t be happening in the foreseeable future."
Esports Impact
The Season 1 collab, as Merrill states, "was a new kind of crossover for us," but "since then, Fortnite has evolved a ton with new experiences and collabs." The update is unfortunate for Fortnite fans, but it is also reflective of Arcane's growth and Fortnite's dynamic competitive state. Season 2's release has pushed Arcane into a mainstream pop-culture fandom distinct from its League of Legends origins, meaning it now interacts with a broader target audience. There is a sizable portion of the Arcane fan base who don't play League of Legends or other video games at all, and physical merch releases may be a safer bet to appeal to these audiences.
In addition, though Fortnite and League of Legends are not direct competitors, Riot Games' FPS VALORANT shares a similar target market. As Arcane's influence has grown in mainstream culture, Riot Games' has as well, and collaborating now could be disadvantageous from a business standpoint. It's important to note that Fortnite's Season 1 Arcane collab dropped before the show had even been released, and no one could guarantee it would be successful. After Season 2, Epic Games would no longer benefit as much since bringing attention to a rival FPS company could overshadow its own brand and pose a much more significant threat.
Merrill thanks fans for their enthusiasm, saying "we really appreciate how much you all care and how much effort you’ve put into advocating for their return." He also assures, "If anything changes in the future, we’ll let you know ASAP!"
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