Machinima is one of the largest online video producers. Content on its online channels were viewed more than 20 billion times in 2012. In December alone, Machinima-related properties had 2.6 billion views from 262 million unique viewers. And during the 2012 E3 videogame convention, it earned 14.4 million unique views on just one day; 455 million views during the week.

Why is it so popular? “Machinima traffics in videos of people playing videogames, often with voice-overs by the players. In the past three years, these have become one of the dominant forms of entertainment for males between the ages of 18 and 34. And Machinima has the market cornered,” explains Wired.

Almost all of the site’s content comes from video-making enthusiasts, which the site enrolls. “Here’s how it works: People post videos on YouTube. They market themselves and build an audience. If they reach a certain viewership threshold or their content achieves some undefined level of professionalism, Machinima asks them to become a network affiliate,” explains the article.

“It’s part of a larger cultural shift in gaming,” says Rob Jones, Machinima’s VP of gaming programming. “This generation doesn’t watch television in the same way. They want to create. We’re giving them something that television isn’t.”

According to Machinima, the site also includes news, trailers, action, sports and comedy.

According to CEO Allen DeBevoise, the site acts like the Internet instead of a traditional TV network, allowing for more freedom and less pressure. “It’s not as though we’re swinging for the fences every time,” he said. “It’s a set of concentric circles. Traditional media goes for everyone right up front, as opposed to thinking about it more organically.”

Even so, he dreams of the day when Machinima can create content and programming that breaks into popular culture. “That’s certainly our ambition. But we’ll do it in a more rational way. We’re not going to spend $5 million an episode and order 13 episodes; we can’t play that game,” he said.