It was originally the successor to Maker Studios, co-founded by Lisa Donovan, Danny Zappin, Scott Katz, Kassem Gharaibeh, Shay Carl, Rawn Erickson II, Ben Donovan,[3][4] Philip DeFranco, Glasgow Phillips, Michael Gallagher, Matthew Clawson, and Paul Ballon in 2009.

[16] From late 2012 through 2013, Maker Studios and Ray William Johnson were involved in a public feud that received considerable media attention.

He stated that they were using "thuggish tactics" to pressure him into signing the contract, one of which was allegedly leveraging his AdSense account for the intellectual property rights to Your Favorite Martian.

[7] The Network also partnered with Fusion TV in a deal that falls under the corporate umbrella of The Walt Disney Company.

[8] On January 19, 2018, Twitch signed a deal with Disney to secure exclusive content from some of the entertainment giant's top YouTubers, including Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, Strawburry17 and LuzuGames.

[39] In December 2015, Courtney Holt replaced Ynon Kreiz as CEO, coming a year after Disney's acquisition of the group.

[7] Animonster was an animation channel co-founded by Maker and Cosmic Toast Studios, which premiered shows such as Your Favorite Martian: The Series, Powerhouse, and Dino Yacht Club.

[41] Maker Studios produced videos for channels on YouTube, including Consider the Source, Tessa Violet, Chuggaaconroy, Yves Bole, KassemG, Timothy DeLaGhetto, Shimmy AP, Peter Shukoff and Lloyd Ahlquist's Epic Rap Battles of History (seasons 1-5), Joseph Garrett's Wonder Quest and I Wonder,[42] KingManProds,[43] Sam Macaroni, along with several others[44][45] that have almost as many viewers as Nickelodeon.

[36][45][46] Maker Studios have also signed celebrities such as famous rapper Snoop Dogg and his YouTube channel WestFestTV,[14][47][48] actor Robert De Niro's Tribeca Enterprises,[49] and Kevin Smith.

[55][56] Disney Digital Network in 2017 produced Hyperlinked, a series distributed on YouTube Red and based on the story of the social network Miss O and Friends, and Club Mickey Mouse, a reboot of The Mickey Mouse Club airing exclusively online on social media.