What is RAID: Call of the Arbiter?

Raid: Call of the Arbiter (COTA for short) is a limited animated series consisting of 10x 5-minute episodes released once a week on:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKsMVIY2OJRMiid_k7q4rsLfmdhQsKphZ

Each episode is part of a ten part storyline following some of RAIDs most beloved characters, and some new faces that will be introduced to the game alongside each episode.

What is the RAID: Call of the Arbiter Limited Series storyline about?

The official synopsis for the series is:

"An ancient guardian, the Arbiter, must summon a band of unlikely champions to find a path back to our world. They will be challenged to lay down their grievances, join forces, and light the spark that will cast down the darkness. The Arbiter calls. Will they answer?"

Will Call of the Arbiter be on a major streaming network soon?

The RAID: Call of The Arbiter Limited Series has only been made for direct streaming on the Raid Shadow Legends YouTube channel - but we would love to take this further! If you want to help us make that happen, show it to your friends and give it your support in the comments! If there’s an audience for this, anything is possible. To stay up to date on any future plans for the series, subscribe and follow RAID Shadow Legends official Social Media Channels:

➔  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RaidShadowLegends

➔  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/raidrpg/ 

➔  Twitter - https://twitter.com/RaidRPG 

➔  Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/RaidShadowLegends 

➔  Discord - https://discord.com/invite/raidshadowlegends 

Who wrote and produced RAID: Call of the Arbiter?

RAID: Call of the Arbiter Series has been a global undertaking, with over 400 people across multiple locations around the world contributing to its creation over the past three years. At Plarium, this work was a collaboration between the game, creative, marketing, and multiple other departments.

Eric Rollman, CEO of Rollman Entertainment and former President of Marvel Television and Animation, has produced the series. He is responsible for bringing Marvel to TV and was one of the first key hires by Haim Saban, helping drive the success of the Power Rangers franchise.

The project’s lead writer is Kendall Deacon Davis of Lex + Otis. Deacon Davis was also the lead writer on ARK: The Animated Series featuring Russel Crowe and previously a narrative designer on Microsoft’s Halo 4. He has designed some of the highest rated Telltale Games episodes, including the BAFTA-nominated finale of The Wolf Among Us.

Jay Oliva, Founder and CEO of the animation studio Lex + Otis, is the series’ showrunner. An animation industry veteran and former Netflix executive producer, Oliva has directed a dozen animated films for both Marvel and DC, including The Dark Knight Returns and the acclaimed Young Justice series. He was previously recruited by Zack Snyder to storyboard the DC Cinematic Universe, beginning with Man of Steel, and is currently the showrunner for multiple animated series, including the Netflix show Trese, as well as ARK: The Animated Series.

Animation for RAID: Call of the Arbiter (COTA) was done in partnership with Studio TeamTo, known for animation and production on major TV series including PJ Masks, Ricky Zoom, Activision Blizzard’s Skylanders Academy, Ubisoft’s Rabbids Invasion, Disney’s Sofia The First and Elena Of Avalor; and more.

Will you make a series with the CGI characters as we see them in the RAID commercials?

As for now, the only series in development or being launched is the RAID: Call of the Arbiter Limited Series.

Since RAID: Shadow Legends was released, fans have asked us to expand our storytelling about the world of Teleria and its characters. For the past three years, we've been producing this limited animated series with the goal of deepening our relationship with our fan community and providing them with a richer, more character-driven glimpse into their game world.

However, we also love Zargala, Deathknight, Norog, and the rest of the gang as they appear in the commercials. Rest assured that they’ll be watching the premiere, commenting on each new episode, and joining in the festivities. Our current plans are to keep telling their stories in our commercials for the foreseeable future.

To stay up to date on the limited series and any possible future projects, subscribe and follow RAID: Shadow Legends official social media channels:

➔  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RaidShadowLegends 

➔  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/raidrpg/ 

➔  Twitter - https://twitter.com/RaidRPG 

➔  Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/RaidShadowLegends 

➔  Discord - https://discord.com/invite/raidshadowlegends 

Will the animation style be the same as the commercials? Is this the same team?

No, the animation in the limited series is done with a different animation team, visual style, and pipeline from RAID: Shadow Legend’s CG (computer generated) commercials. While we do most of our commercial work in house, the scope and scale of this project would have taken us over 20 years to do internally (believe me, we checked.) While key members of our video production team advised and collaborated, we partnered with Lex + Otis in Los Angeles, California and Studio TeamTo in Paris and Valence, France to help us bring this to life.

We couldn’t be happier with the outcome and feel that the RAID: Call of the Arbiter Limited Series adds a distinct stylistic take to the world and characters.

Is the animated series based on the game? If I play the game, will it be the same?

While you’ll see shared characters, locations, themes, and narrative elements, RAID: Shadow Legends and RAID: Call of the Arbiter are intended to be two very different experiences. In terms of story, COTA is set prior to the “current day” a player would experience when starting the game, but the core world lore it’s built on is the same as the game.

Do I have to play the game and/or subscribe to RAID: Shadow Legends to watch RAID: Call of the Arbiter?

The RAID: Call of the Arbiter Limited Series will be accessible to anyone at this https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKsMVIY2OJRMiid_k7q4rsLfmdhQsKphZ on YouTube. You do not have to have a RAID: Shadow Legends account or subscribe to our channel to enjoy the limited series. It’s for everyone!

If you want to add to the experience, RAID will be running many activities accessible only through the game that you won’t want to miss! For the entire series run, we will offer giveaways, new in-game player events, a first look at character lore, and more. The game is free to play and you can download it on iOS and Android mobile devices, as well as PC through the Microsoft Store or the Plarium Play platform.

Which champions will be featured in the series? Why these champions? How were they chosen?

We don’t want to give away too many spoilers at this point, but we can say that Athel, Galek, Kael, Elhain, Bad-el-Kazar, and of course the Arbiter will be some of the many characters in the limited series.

What you won’t see are a huge amount of legendaries or any champions that were added to the game after this project was started about three years ago. We tried to avoid too many high-level champions for storytelling purposes. We wanted these characters to be familiar, yet also have room for growth and development. They couldn’t be so powerful that overcoming the challenges and opponents in the story didn’t feel believable. We also deliberately focused on champions that any player who has played RAID for about a month would likely recognize. Overall, you’ll see over 120 adaptations of character models from the game.

We’ll drop more info over the coming months, so follow our social media and join in the conversation as we release more information:

➔  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RaidShadowLegends 

➔  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/raidrpg/ 

➔  Twitter - https://twitter.com/RaidRPG 

➔  Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/RaidShadowLegends 

➔  Discord - https://discord.com/invite/raidshadowlegends 

Will we meet any new characters not currently in the game?

Yes! Viewers will meet some brand new characters not yet seen in the game, alongside some familiar characters at a different point in their life than we see them in the game.

When do the events of Call of the Arbiter take place in relation to the game? Is the series going to be related to the Campaign story?

The events in the limited series take place over hundreds of years, all before the events of the game and the campaign. While they do share many characters, we may see them at different points in their lives. With shards, magical influences, and the characteristics of the different species and magical races in the world of RAID, characters also age at different rates. You also shouldn’t be surprised to find locations and settings from the campaign reimagined or shown differently than in the game art.

The limited series allowed us to build out the world in a visual medium that we hope you’ll enjoy. While you can expect to see some overlap and should look forward to finding connections and inside references, expect this to be its own experience.

Are there going to be age restrictions for the series? Will the series contain strong language, nudity, or violence?

We don’t plan to put any hard age restrictions on this, but will follow the platform guidance recommendations. That said, RAID: Shadow Legends was never intended for kids, and the limited series is no different. While there’s no nudity, there will be adult language, adult themes of personal loss, death, and other content that may not be appropriate for very young audiences. There isn’t gratuitous violence, but the series is probably something you should watch first before deciding to share it with younger viewers.

Are there going to be any in-game events dedicated to the Raid: Call of the Arbiter Limited Series launch?

Absolutely. We plan on celebrating the release of RAID: Call of the Arbiter with various in-game events and competitions. Follow our community channels closer to the release for more information.

➔  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RaidShadowLegends 

➔  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/raidrpg/ 

➔  Twitter - https://twitter.com/RaidRPG 

➔  Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/RaidShadowLegends 

➔  Discord - https://discord.com/invite/raidshadowlegends 

Is this series canonical to the game, a parallel reality, or an alternate timeline? How much does the lore overlap?

Great question! As we started writing the show, we intended to leave this as a slightly different interpretation of the world on a different timeline.

As this project went on, we had the opportunity to flesh out the in-game lore in ways we’d never had the time or resources for in the past. This kicked off a parallel project of reviewing everything we’ve ever written in-game, in community posts, in our internal notes, and in the game code in one great overhaul. Ultimately, we decided to use this limited series as our baseline reference for cannon and start bringing as much of the content into alignment as possible.

When the limited series releases, we’ll also start adding biographical content to some of the champions in RAID to start tying all of this together - but we 100% reserve the right to blur that line with unreliable narrators and imperfect archival records within the game world.

The short answer: the game and the show are mostly canonical, but you may notice there are parts where we wouldn't let perfect alignment with the game get in the way of a good story. We’re excited to share the results of our story work with you in future updates and projects.

Are there any plans for season two, a movie, or a full-length series?

The RAID: Call of The Arbiter Limited Series has only been made for direct streaming on the Raid Shadow Legends YouTube channel - but we would love to take this further! We have many ideas for a season two, and could also see this working as a film or a full-length series. If you want to help us make that happen, just watch, give it a like, and share it with some friends! If there’s an audience for this, anything is possible. To stay up to date on any possible plans for the series, subscribe and follow RAID Shadow Legends official Social Media Channels:

➔  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RaidShadowLegends 

➔  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/raidrpg/ 

➔  Twitter - https://twitter.com/RaidRPG 

➔  Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/RaidShadowLegends 

➔  Discord - https://discord.com/invite/raidshadowlegends 

Will the game have any series-related content (skins, avatars, events, etc.)?

We are definitely planning some big things to celebrate in the game. Follow our community channels closer to the release for more information.

Are there any plans for merch now that RAID is officially a franchise?

Possibly! Once you watch the limited series, tell us what kind of merch you’d like to see in the community channels, and we’ll see what we can do.

Is the show's story connected to the lore stories that are now stored on the Forum, Facebook, etc.?

Not directly, no. In fact, some of the prior lore we’ve written may be updated or altered to align with what we’ve done with COTA. We have been working internally to bring together all the storytelling and move much of the core lore into the game itself. From that point on, what’s in the game should constitute cannon. We can’t wait to share it with everyone.