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YouTube Video Distributor For PewDiePie And Other Popular Gaming Channels Purchased By Disney
The distributor of popular YouTube gaming personality videos like PewDiePie and TotalBiscuit, among many others, has been purchased by Disney for $500 million.
Maker Studios doesn't exclusively distribute gaming video content on YouTube, but it is among its most popular channels of the large network. YouTubers like those mentioned above, along with the popular Game Grumps and Yogscast channels all fall under Maker Studios' umbrella, but it also helps produce videos like those featured on the Epic Rap Battles of History channel.
Disney Purchased the network for $500 million, with the possibility of performance-based payouts of up to $450 million.
The purchase won't affect the content that appears on the assorted channels, and TotalBiscuit and PewDiePie have tweeted as much confirming this:
Yup, Disney now owns Maker so also owns Polaris. No idea what this means for us, but I'll make the content I want to make or go elsewhere.
— TotalBiscuit (@Totalbiscuit) March 25, 2014
If you actually think Disney has bought me then I worry about you.
— Felix Kjellberg (@pewdiepie) March 24, 2014
The purchase was apparently made in effort by Disney to better reach the millennial generation of entertainment consumers according to Kevin Mayer, Disney executive vice president for corporate strategy, who tells Reuters, "This gives a presence online to reach the millennial group that is increasingly getting its video online."
For more on Maker Studios, check out the company's official website.
Our Take
It's unclear exactly how this purchase will affect the content of Maker Studios' network. It sounds like, in regard to PewDiePie and TotalBiscuit at least, if there is any request to change any aspect of their content, they will just leave – something they are certainly capable of doing with their committed audiences. It sounds like Disney just wants a piece of the YouTube action, as opposed to total control.
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