Warner Bros. buys Machinima, a digital studio focused on gamer culture

LOS ANGELES -- Warner Bros. is going all in with digital entertainment company Machinima.

After months of speculation, Warner Bros. announced Thursday that it is acquiring Machinima, a digital studio focused on fandom and gamer culture.

Machinima will operate under Warner Bros. Digital Networks, a division founded in June 2016 to grow the Studio’s digital and OTT offerings, the companies said in a release.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Warner Bros. has invested in Machinima since 2014. The acquisition underlines the studio's efforts to further tap into the digital space, the popular gaming market and expand its reach to fans of the DC universe.

Over 188 million people will watch competitive gaming this year, according to SuperData. And the industry is on track to reach a global audience of 302 million by 2020.

“Machinima is a strong gamer and fandom content and social brand with enormous reach and high engagement with audiences that play our games and are big fans of DC films and television shows,” Craig Hunegs, president of business and strategy at Warner Bros. Television Group, said in a statement. “Machinima also produces great, high quality content for their community, and together we can create an even more compelling experience and do some really exciting things involving our key franchises."

Since launching in 2000, Machinima has amassed a talent network of over 1,000 programmers who reach over 150 million viewers each month. It is the 10th largest digital video entertainment media company, according to a recent comScore report.

The company has also produced many longform live action series based on TV shows and video game franchises, including: Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, Mortal Kombat: Legacy and Mortal Kombat: Legacy 2, Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist and Street Fighter: Resurrection, and Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. The company has content partnerships with several platforms including Playstation Vue, Amazon Prime, Verizon’s go90, China’s Sohu and The CW Network.

Most recently, the company partnered with Justin Lin's online brand YOMYOMF and NBCUniversal Brand Development to produce a reboot of '80s series Knight Rider.

Combined, those series have amassed more than 300 million views on Machinima.

Calling it a "win-win," Machinima CEO Chad Gutstein said the deal will allow his company to "take full advantage of Warner Bros.’ intellectual property, sales and distribution, while still creating content for social and premium digital platforms that gamers and geeks love."

Warner Bros. is not the first to fully invest in the digital space. In 2014, entertainment giant Disney Studios bought digital entertainment company Maker Studios for a whopping $675 million.