Microsoft and Machinima defend YouTube Xbox One deal

Microsoft and Machinma have responded to yesterday’s report on the pair’s confidential Xbox One endorsement arrangement, claiming that the deal was a typical marketing partnership.”

In a joint statement to Polygon, the companies denied the deal involved any shady practices – a notion that could be questioned by the US Federal Trade Commission.

"This partnership between Machinima and Microsoft was a typical marketing partnership to promote Xbox One in December. The Xbox team does not review any specific content or provide feedback on content,” the joint statement reads.

Any confidentiality provisions, terms or other guidelines are standard documents provided by Machinima. For clarity, confidentiality relates to the agreements themselves, not the existence of the promotion."

The deal had Microsoft paying a bonus of $3 per thousand views to content producers who posted YouTube videos featuring at least 30 seconds of Xbox One gameplay, as well as verbally mentioned what hardware the game was being played on.

Reached for further comment, a Microsoft rep stated the firm had no comment beyond the earlier statement. Machinima has not yet given any individual response.