The collapse of Machinima is a stark warning to YouTube creators
What was once the most-viewed YouTube channel in the world is now a confusing graveyard. And millions of fans aren't happy
On January 18, rumours began circulating on social media that Machinima, one of YouTube’s biggest multi-channel networks, was dead. Visitors to the network discovered that its entire library of gaming-related videos had been set to private, rendering every single video inaccessible. Machinima’s vast team of content creators, not to mention its 12 million subscribers, were bewildered. What had happened?
A few days earlier, Beau Bryant, general manager of talent and programming at Fullscreen, a property belonging to Machinima’s owners, Otter Media, sent a letter to partners. He explained that Fullscreen would be “welcoming employees from the Machinima Creator team who have helped build that company into what it is today”. The letter was shared by Twitter user and Machinima contract holder William Roeben.
Roeben, like so many others, has been left in limbo since neither Otter Media nor Fullscreen have clarified whether the creators’ contracts are still valid or whether the removal of videos is permanent. Some videos have reappeared on the network but many more remain hidden.
WIRED approached Otter Media for comment, but it did not respond. In a statement to Kotaku, it said it was “focused on creating new content with the Machinima team” and that as part of this new focus it had “pivoted from distributing content on a handful of legacy operated channels.”
It’s unclear what this apparent pivot means for operators of “legacy” channels. Creators who have moved on from Machinima are as anxious as everyone else about the fate of their contributions. Many, such as Jeremy Azevedo, a former Machinima creator who now works for IGN, are dismayed. “For those of us that truly helped build that company, it's a pretty huge disappointment that Otter Media would make private, or delete, thousands of videos from Machinima,” he says.
“Even if creators retain clips of their shows, the view counts and engagements that they point to on their resumes can no longer be recovered or shown. I'm sure that for many of us that creates a minor inconvenience on our portfolio sites, while for others this probably represents a relatively devastating loss.”
Dillan Gandhi, a digital media consultant, who has been closely following the developments, says that although he can understand the business case for Machinima making such a move, the company’s bosses have a responsibility to be transparent with its creators. “Whilst it's understandable why Machinima has made this move, where it is in their corporate interest to move away from third-party owned platforms, they also have a responsibility to be transparent and mindful of their creators' hard work,” he says. “Many of whom were not informed of the content deletion so were unable to back-up the hundreds upon hundreds of hours of content they've created. It is disrespectful and sadly it's unlikely we'll ever see much of that content again due to copyright hurdles.”
Machinima’s origins date back to 2000, when founder Hugh Hancock established Machinima.com. Hancock’s venture took its name from the machinima genre, which involves the creation of short films using real-time computer graphic engines. He sold it to new owners in 2006, at which point it became a YouTube multi-channel network or MCN. These networks are run by firms that partner with video platforms and generally take a percentage of a channel owner’s advertising revenue in exchange for providing benefits such as funding and cross-promotion.
For a few months in 2013, Machinima was the most-viewed YouTube channel worldwide, racking up two billion views. Popular channels on the network included Machinima Respawn, which became known for its irreverent humour and Machinima Live, which hosted eSports tournaments.
In recent years, the company has gone through several changes in ownership. In 2016, it was bought by Warner Digital Networks, which itself was taken over by AT&T in June 2018. Later that year, Machinima was acquired by Otter Media. Executives have also sought to broaden the network’s audience with a shift towards general entertainment programming that is less focused on the machinima genre.
It seems that loyal contributors have been caught in the crossfire of this corporate churn, losing both their work – and potentially any future payments from Machinima. “Hundreds of creators have, in some cases, had years’ worth of work eliminated in a snap,” says Azevedo. “Some of the programs we're talking about here, like Inside Gaming, Sonic For Hire, Battlefield Friends and many others, had tens of millions of views each. This isn't like one of the other MCNs that acted as a bush-league talent agency. [Machinima] was a brand with dozens of genuine hit shows that were watched by hundreds of millions of people over years.”
Did the various corporations involved in Machinima throughout the years understand its purpose or popularity? Not according to Azevedo. “The content once housed there represented an important snapshot of internet history,” he says. “It’s now gone thanks largely in part to an obvious misunderstanding of what Machinima actually was, or what traditional media companies were even buying when they purchased an MCN.”
Given the minimal communication from Otter Media, it’s understandable that creators feel frustrated about where they stand. But the saga raises bigger questions about how creative works are preserved online and what people can do to protect themselves. For now, the best advice might be for creators to archive their work. “It's sadly a necessary precaution thanks to how unpredictable matters can be in these organisations behind the scenes,” says Geoffrey Barnes from the blog Damage Control. “Machinima won't be the last YouTube content network to go down, but I hope others give creators enough time to back up their work before removing everything. I don't think this will stop creators from relying on content channels, because they still make for great exposure opportunities.”
Creators who have backed up their content could theoretically rehost it on their own sites, although that depends on the terms of their Machinima contracts. Rehosting them, however, is unlikely to offer the same exposure that a network such as Machinima can provide – even if it has less relevance than in its heyday.
Up until the mass removal of videos, there was still much affection for Machinima, as evidenced by the reaction to its demise. For many fans and creators, anger has replaced affection as the reality sinks in.
Is there a future for similar MCNs? Azevedo doesn’t – and never really did – believe so. He blames executive mismanagement and mercenary partnerships, among other reasons, for their demise. “The real lesson here is that, yet again, a very innovative company signed their own death warrant when they sold out to the organisations that they once succeeded in spite of, but that would eventually acquire, absorb and eliminate them all,” he says. Machinima gave creators the experience of having their videos showcased to a huge audience, but many have now been left with nothing to show for it.
What was once the most-viewed YouTube channel in the world is now a confusing graveyard. And millions of fans aren't happy
By TOLA ONANUGA