OUR FOUNDATION
Founded in 2009 in Paris by Pascal Charrue, Jérôme Combe, and Arnaud Delord, the studio emerged at a time when animation was rapidly expanding beyond children’s television into music, advertising, gaming, and adult-oriented storytelling
From the beginning, Fortiche positioned itself not as a traditional animation house, but as a studio driven by strong artistic identity, cinematic ambition, and a desire to blend techniques rather than conform to industry norms.
Meet the Team
Learn how we made it
In its early years, Fortiche focused primarily on commercials and music videos. These projects allowed the studio to experiment visually while working within short formats that demanded immediate impact. Collaborations with major brands such as Coca-Cola, Honda, Samsung, and MTV helped establish Fortiche’s technical credibility, while music videos for artists like Gorillaz introduced a more expressive, stylized approach to character animation and worldbuilding. Even at this stage, the studio’s work stood out for its hybrid look: characters often appeared painterly and expressive, while environments and camera movement reflected the depth and polish of 3D animation. This fusion of 2D and 3D sensibilities would later become the studio’s signature.
A defining turning point for Fortiche came through its collaboration with Riot Games, the developer behind League of Legends. The partnership began in the early 2010s with animated music videos and promotional cinematics, most notably Get Jinxed, which showcased Fortiche’s ability to translate game characters into emotionally vivid animated performances. Over time, the collaboration deepened, leading to iconic pieces such as Warriors, RISE, and POP/STARS. These works were not simply advertisements; they were short cinematic experiences that expanded the League of Legends universe and helped redefine how game studios used animation to build cultural presence. Through this long-term relationship, Fortiche gained experience in serialized storytelling, large-scale production, and close creative collaboration with a major entertainment company.
This partnership ultimately led to Fortiche’s most famous and ambitious project: Arcane. Conceived over several years and released on Netflix in 2021, Arcane marked a major milestone not only for the studio but for the animation industry as a whole. Based on the League of Legends universe, the series distinguished itself by appealing to both gamers and non-gamers through mature themes, complex characters, and emotionally driven storytelling.
The success of Arcane brought Fortiche international recognition and critical acclaim, including numerous industry awards. It also dramatically transformed the studio’s scale and structure. What had once been a relatively small Paris-based company expanded into a multi-site operation with studios in Paris, Montpellier, and Las Palmas, employing hundreds of artists and technicians during peak production. The demands of Arcane pushed Fortiche to refine its pipelines, invest in new talent, and solidify its reputation as a studio capable of handling long-form, high-end animated storytelling.
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