Warner Bros. to Acquire LA-Based Gaming Network Machinima
Warner Bros. is closing a deal to acquire Machinima, an online content network for video game enthusiasts, at a price of $75 million, according to reports from The Information and other sources.
Machinima was founded in 2000 by Allen Debevoise and is headquartered in West Hollywood, California. Several years before the start of YouTube, the company pioneered a video social network where users could submit their own videos and create personal channels. As YouTube took off and became the go-to digital video consumption site, Machinima repositioned itself as one of many video content channels living on YouTube’s popular platform. Machinima currently publishes more than 100,000 videos each month on YouTube, all either productions from its partner content creators or the company’s original series.
Since its founding, Machinima has raised a total of $91.55 million from five financing rounds. Warner Bros. led Machinima’s $18 million Series D round in 2014, as well as its $24 million Series E in 2015. Other Machinima investors include Google, MK Capital, Redpoint Ventures and Coffin Capital.
The acquisition comes at a time when Machinima has reportedly been struggling to maintain its position in the increasingly competitive video entertainment market. Debevoise stepped down from his CEO position in 2013, when the company was trying to reboot its business. Machinima has gone through several rounds of layoffs and executive upheavals in recent years. Last year, the company also received widely covered negative news attention for a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission around deceptive advertising campaigns.
