The recent closure of Xbox Entertainment Studios by Microsoft MSFT +1.19% as an effort to refocus the company signaled that the company’s digital TV ambitions on Xbox was likely coming to an end. Outside of a few existing projects in the works like the high profile Halo: Nightfall, it seemed that Xbox would not focus seriously on TV show content for its players going forward.
But now there’s some interesting news out of THR that says Microsoft is shopping around Xbox Entertainment Studios to Warner Bros. The media giant is reportedly considering merging XES with the video game network it already has a large stake in, Machinima, though reps for both have declined comment on the possible deal as of yet.
Many may not realize that Warner Bros. even owns a large part of Machinima, but as recently as March 2014, Warners led a $18M round of funding for them. Machinima is often viewed as the “only game in town” when it comes to high profile YouTube video game partnerships, allowing their content creators to make videos featuring game content free from many tricky copyright issues that plague the unaffiliated. Though even their partners ran into trouble during a recent YouTube crackdown on content, and many pointed the finger at Machinima for not doing enough to prevent it.
Machinima is no stranger to working with Xbox, and helped to distribute the last Halo web series, Forward Unto Dawn, which ended up being the inspiration for the new Halo: Nightfall. The deal would potentially allow for more collaborations like that, though with Warner Bros. directly involved, they may look to bring much of the digital content to actual broadcast networks. Halo: Nightfall is already in talks to come to Showtime, even ahead of this possible deal.
It should be noted that Sony is still pressing ahead with their PlayStation TV show plans, including the upcoming Powers, based on the Brian Michael Bendis comic. If Sony’s concept of video game-based TV takes off and Microsoft has abandoned those plans completely, they could end up behind the curve.
That said, it’s easy to remain skeptical about the idea. While streaming services like Netflix NFLX +1.84% and Amazon are accessible by anyone across a number of devices, which means original content by those brands makes sense, the same can’t really be said for video game systems. These shows would be restricted to not just video game consoles, but one brand of video game console and only with a specific kind of subscription (Xbox Live Gold or PS Plus). That’s limiting your audience in a pretty huge way, and it may be that Microsoft may have the right idea by partnering with a more traditional media company for possible distribution. In Sony’s case, Powers very well may be an amazing show in the end, but limited to a select audience, it may not find the reach it deserves. And certainly no one is going to pick up a game console to watch even a handful of original shows, so it mostly exists as a fun bonus for existing owners.
An XES partnership with Machinima may worry some, however. The brand isn’t exactly beloved these days in the gaming scene, with many content creators coming forward to tell tales of how they’ve been mistreated in one way or another by a company that feels like something of a monopoly in the YouTube gaming realm. As recently as today, YouTuber Broteam came forward with a lengthy diatribe explaining how his handlers were fired without him knowing, Machinima explicitly told him to change his content from retro to present day, and he wasn’t paid an amount that was initially agreed upon in his contract. The story got worse when Machinima Producer RickyFTW started joking about Broteam’s complaints on stream, and suggested his contract be extended out of spite. Needless to say, Machinima hasn’t won all that many fans as of late, and some would be wary of them partnering with XES this closely in the wake of a possible Warner Bros. deal.
None of this has come to pass yet however, and XES remains in limbo until something official is worked out. One way or another, Halo: Nightfall will at least see the night of day, but Microsoft’s other TV plans may be put on hold indefinitely, or transferred to a more traditional media giant.
0 comments:
Post a Comment