Machinima, Inc.
Machinima, Inc. was an American multiplatform online entertainment network owned by WarnerMedia. The company was founded in January 2000 by Hugh Hancock and was headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
It originated as a hub for its namesake, machinima, which uses and manipulates video-game technology to create animation, as well as featuring articles on machinima and content about film and technology. The website initially helped to bring attention to machinima as an art form and to encourage productions based on game engines other than those of id Software's first-person shooter computer game series Quake. Over time, the website's focus shifted to general entertainment programming centered around video game culture, comic books and fandom.
In 2016, the company was acquired by Warner Bros. Digital Networks. In turn, Warner Media was acquired by AT&T in 2018. That December, the company would be re-organized into Otter Media and eventually subsumed by its multi-channel network Fullscreen. In January 2019, Machinima abruptly discontinued their YouTube channels, with their videos set to private. In February 2019, Machinima officially ceased operations.
History
In December 1999, id Software released Quake III Arena. According to Paul Marino, executive director of the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences, filmmakers who had been using prior versions of the Quake series to record animated videos, then called "Quake movies", were initially excited, but the enthusiasm dampened when id announced that, in an attempt to curtail cheating in multiplayer video games, it would take legal action against anyone who released details of Quake IIIs networking code, which was included in the game's game demo file format. This precluded the use of custom demo-editing tools that had facilitated the creation of videos that used the older Quake and Quake II demo file formats, slowing the release of new Quake movies. Another contributing factor to this decline was that the self-referential nature of the gameplay-related situations and commentary of Quake movies was losing novelty. Marino explained bluntly that "the joke was getting old". Therefore, the Quake movie community needed to reinvent itself.In January 2000, Hugh Hancock started Machinima.com, a resource for video makers who used computer and video games as a medium. The site's name was foreign to the Quake movie community. The term machinima was originally machinema, from the words machine and cinema. However, Hancock had misspelled the term in a previous email, and the new name stuck because he and Anthony Bailey, who had worked on Quake done Quick, liked the now-embedded reference to anime.
The site opened with multiple articles, interviews, and tutorials, and was soon able to acquire exclusive releases of new productions. One such work, Quad God, was the first to use Quake III Arena and the first to be released in a conventional video file format instead of a demo file format exclusive to a certain game. The switch to conventional media offended some machinima producers, but Quad God, by Tritin Films helped to introduce machinima to a wider audience and to solidify Machinima.com's launch. Matt Kelland, Dave Morris, and Dave Lloyd called the release of Quad God "a key moment in the development of machinima. In turn, as Machinima.com became more popular throughout 2000, other game engines, such as that of Unreal Tournament, became the basis of new productions and the focus of new software tools for machinima.
2006–2016
On January 30, 2006, Hancock announced his resignation as editor-in-chief of Machinima.com and that control of the site would be transferred to the staff of Machinima, Inc. Among the reasons cited for the change were differences in approach to the site and a desire to devote more time to Strange Company's 2006 machinima production BloodSpell. Hancock called the decision "possibly the biggest step I've taken since I founded Strange Company nearly nine years ago".Towards the end of 2010, Machinima revamped its website and removed the forums, and the ability to upload videos. Since the revamp of their website, Machinima had shifted focus away from actual machinima content. The network now focused on gamer lifestyle and entertainment programming, broadcasting solely through their YouTube channels.
In January 2012, Machinima discontinued podcast feeds on iTunes without an in-feed announcement. Back episodes remained available but no new episodes have appeared on the feed since moving to YouTube exclusively. In June 2012, Machinima partnered with Meteor Entertainment to promote Hawken, a highly anticipated free-to-play online game which was later released in December 2012.
In the same month, Microsoft announced the inclusion of Machinima programming on Xbox Live during the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo. In May 2012, Google invested $35 million into Machinima. It was the first time Google has openly backed a content company by taking an equity stake. In December 2012, Machinima.com announced it was letting go of 23 staff from its workforce. Machinima said the lay-offs were due to re-organizing as part of its global growth strategy, but were still hiring other key divisions whilst these layoffs were happening.
In late 2012, Machinima reached 4th place in YouTube's subscriber rankings with over 5 million subscribers. The only channels preventing Machinima from becoming #1 at the time were Smosh, nigahiga and RayWilliamJohnson, all three of which at the time had over 6 million subscribers. As of December 2018, the channel had over 12 million subscribers.
In early 2014, the main channel briefly returned to uploading original machinima series and movies. In March 2014, Warner Bros. led an $18 million round of funding for Machinima. Around the same time, founder Allen DeBevoise stepped down as CEO and became the new chairman. Former Ovation COO Chad Gutstein was installed in his place. In November 2014, Machinima announced plans to rebrand their network, with a revamped logo and new tagline, "Heroes Rise." A video ID was produced by the Matthew Finio Creative agency and editor Ian McGuire with the word "Machinima" whispered by jazz singer Melissa Morgan, Finio's cousin.
In February 2015, the company raised an additional $24 million in funding led by Warner Bros. Machinima said that the additional funding would be used to accelerate growth through more investments in content and technology to better serve the firm's audiences, advertisers, creators and distributors.
On October 12, 2016, sources told media sites that Warner Bros. was nearing a deal to acquire Machinima and its branded properties. On November 17, 2016, Warner Bros. confirmed the news, thus making Machinima a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros. Digital Networks.
2018–2019
On February 14, 2018, after being integrated into Warner Bros. Digital Networks, Machinima unveiled a new logo and plans to shift its programming back towards game-centric content, and away from the multi-channel network model.In June 2018, Warner Bros. parent company Time Warner was acquired by AT&T and renamed WarnerMedia. AT&T owns Otter Media, which runs the multi-channel networks Fullscreen and Rooster Teeth—which similarly produces gaming-oriented content and web series, and previously the anime-oriented streaming service Crunchyroll. After the purchase, AT&T bought out Chernin Group's stake in the company, making WarnerMedia the sole owner. In November 2018, Deadline Hollywood reported that AT&T was preparing to reorganize Machinima into Otter Media. The following month, the merger went ahead as part of a larger reorganization of Otter Media, which resulted in layoffs of 10% of the company's workforce.
On January 18, 2019, following the completion of the reorganization, all content was abruptly set to private on Machinima's YouTube channels. Fullscreen explained that Machinima would now be a unit of Fullscreen, producing content under the Machinima banner while Machinima's partners would migrate into Fullscreen's creator network. Fullscreen GM Beau Bryant stated in an email sent to Machinima partners that they were "going to great lengths 'behind-the-scenes' to ensure a smooth and efficient transition".
In January 2019, Machinima abruptly discontinued their YouTube channels, with all their videos set to private, largely in part due to the AT&T acquisition of Otter Media, Rooster Teeth, FullScreen and more, leading to an executive decision consolidating digital assets which closed Machinima's doors. On February 1, 2019, Machinima officially announced that it had laid off its 81 employees and ceased remaining operations. The company stated that certain employees were being retained to work for Otter Media, and that Russell Arons was "assisting with transitional activities as she explores new opportunities". Shortly afterward, it was announced that a number of former Machinima series and shows would move under Rooster Teeth, including a revival of Inside Gaming. In 2022, YouTuber and Internet personality Cr1TiKaL expressed interest in buying Machinima.
Programming
Machinima's content was primarily hosted on various YouTube channels. Content uploaded onto these channels are either produced in-house or by signed directors. Machinima has also utilized social media platforms to provide fans with featured uploads, interactive questions, and live event coverage.''Inside Gaming''
Inside Gaming was the main editorial brand of Machinima. Coverage of gaming news, previews, and reviews was provided for more than 600,000 weekly viewers through daily and weekly shows on its YouTube channel hosted by then-employee Adam Kovic under the alias "The Dead Pixel". He was often seen in a Halo 3-themed machinima form in his lava-red Recon helmet.Inside Gaming is the successor to Machinima's discontinued segment, Inside Halo, which was less successful because of the lack of news surrounding the Halo series. Inside Halo was developed and hosted by "Soda God" who alternated weekly hosting with Adam Kovic who became the only host. Eventually an official co-host, Matt Dannevik, joined Kovic on the set of Inside Gaming Daily; he was laid off in December 2012. Producers Bruce Greene and James Willems regularly co-hosted with Kovic, and have started their own YouTube channel under Inside Gaming. Inside Gaming also hosted its own annual awards show, the "Inside Gaming Awards" in Los Angeles. The awards show celebrates the biggest developers and achievements in the video-games industry, and features top gaming choices by viewers and the staff of Inside Gaming. Categories in which games are selected include, among others: Game of the Year, Best Online Multiplayer, and Best Original Games.
On January 26, 2015, Inside Gaming employees Adam Kovic, Bruce Greene, Lawrence Sonntag, Joel Rubin, Sean "Spoole" Poole, James Willems, and Matt Peake announced that they were leaving Machinima. The group is now known as Funhaus, a subsidiary of Rooster Teeth Productions. On April 9, 2015, Matt Dannevik announced in a video that he would be returning to Machinima and taking over the Inside Gaming channel, with help from other members of Machinima.
In February 2019, following the sunset of Machinima, it was announced that Inside Gaming would be revived as a merger with Rooster Teeth's The Know, with Sonntag as editor-in-chief, and Kovic and Greene returning as hosts alongside former IGN journalist Alanah Pearce. It was also announced that Rooster Teeth would also manage the archives of the series.