Machinima refers to a form of moving-image production that uses game engines or real-time virtual spaces to create cinematic works. It became established as a new medium in the late 2000s, when game engines achieved a significant leap in rendering capability. In machinima, the game is no longer treated primarily as something to be played; instead, it functions as a production environment for filming. The game engine becomes a movable film studio that contains a camera, set, actors, and physical laws within software.
This lineage includes practices that extract in-game events outside the intended purpose of play, compare game images analytically, or use a game engine as a production environment for science-fiction cinema. Machinima belongs to a broader artistic genealogy linked to Dada and Surrealism, as a way of repurposing the extreme form of entertainment known as games into a destructive or critical art form. Works in this area may address the ontology of avatars in virtual worlds, as well as nostalgia, alienation, surveillance, capital, and the politics of space in digital society.