Web videos are turning into the preferred way to drop news about a new game. That’s why Meteor Entertainment has teamed up with gamer video network Machinima to promote Hawken, a highly anticipated free-to-play online game coming this December.

Adhesive Games, a division of Meteor, is developing Hawken, a giant-robot mech combat game where pilots fight against each other for survival on a planet ruined by industrialization. Machinima, which serves more than 1.6 billion videos a month, will promote the game with a campaign that starts today with the premier of a live-action vignette. The short film was directed by filmmaker Jeremiah O’Flaherty, art director of the original Gears of War.

Meteor will release Hawken as a downloadable title on Dec. 12. But the campaign will go on for some time by marrying content, advertising, community input, and social media. Hawken became a sensation in the past year after its initial YouTube video scored millions of hits, and gamers were astounded at the quality of the free-to-play title.

“YouTube is the largest video platform in the world,” said Mark Long, CEO of Meteor. “We understand and appreciate Machinima’s unique reach with core gamers on that platform, so we knew they would be the perfect partner to develop an innovative campaign to drive discovery and community around Hawken.”

Allen DeBevoise, said “Almost a year ago, our team saw the first Hawken gameplay video on YouTube. We were so intrigued by the quality and the intensity of the action and cinematics. This is emblematic of the singular power of online video to engage. We knew our global audience of gamers would love the concept, and immediately began thinking of ways we could help bring Hawken to the world.”

Here’s a link to the latest Hawken live-action trailer.