All of the content on Machinima’s YouTube gaming channel has been set to private, effectively wiping the channel from existence on the internet. However, its new owners, Otter Media, say the content will be “distributed on new channels” sometime later in the year.
According to Kotaku , Machinima’s YouTube content was set to private recently. While the exact date is unknown, it appears that people first started voicing their opinion on the matter on Friday afternoon.
“Wow y’all making me emotional with #RIPMachinima,” KhailAnonymous, a former creator at Machinima tweeted .
“Sad to see the catalog go,” Matt Dannevik , also a former creator, tweeted. “As many have already said Machinima was a special place filled with amazing people.”
“Otter Media really just went and deleted Machinima, Happy Hour, Respawn, Realm, Prime, Inside Gaming, ETC, everything,” former creator and employee of Machinima, Jeremy Azevedo, tweeted after finding out.
Machinima was acquired by Warner Digital Networks in 2016 before being sold to AT&T in the summer of 2018, according to Engadget . Most recently, it became the property of AT&T’s Fullscreen, which is operated by Otter Media. Otter Media also runs Rooster Teeth Productions, according to IGN .
And just like that… pic.twitter.com/X1UP5Zv053
— Lawrence Sonntag (@SirLarr) January 19, 2019
While setting the content to private on Machinima’s YouTube Channel effectively deletes the content from the internet, it doesn’t mean the videos are gone forever. Instead, as reported by Games Industry , Otter Media is planning to repackage the content and distribute it via other channels. This change is expected to be announced sometime later in the year.
“We are focused on creating new content with the Machinima team, which will be distributed on new channels to be announced in the coming months,” Otter Media also told Kotaku .
“In the meantime, the Machinima network of creator channels continues to showcase the talents of the network. As part of this focus on new content, we have pivoted from distributing content on a handful of legacy operated channels.”
Containing many videos, and dating back more than 10 years, Machinima’s YouTube channel boasts more than 12.3 million subscribers. For those that are unaware, Machinima created content that saw the “use of real-time computer graphics to create visual productions, often using video games as the medium in which to pull this off,” according to IGN .
According to a statement issued by a Fullscreen representative and issued to the Verge , “both Fullscreen and Otter Media have a lot of great stuff coming down the pipeline over the next few months.”
But, until then, fans of the YouTube channel will just have to wait to find out more.
