Polygone

Jay Peters of The Verge, reporting on the sale of Polygon to Valnet:

Polygon, The Verge’s sister site dedicated to gaming and entertainment, has been sold by Vox Media to Valnet, a company that owns brands like ScreenRant, GameRant, and Android Police. Some Polygon staffers will continue with the publication under its new owner, while others have been laid off, according to posts online and an internal message sent to Vox Media employees.

Valnet owns more than 27 different brands that cover areas like entertainment, gaming, sports, and travel. A recent report from TheWrap includes one former contributor to a site under Valnet’s purview describing conditions as “almost sweatshop-level.”

This is gut-wrenching. Polygon meant so much to me. It’s a big reason I dreamed of becoming a games journalist, in turn starting this blog, and likely the sole reason I took any interest in web development.

When the website launched in 2012, the design, articles, and personality forward staff felt like a revelation. I was hooked. Pieces like their PS4 and Xbox One reviews took my breath away. Tracy Lien’s No Girls Allowed is an all-timer.

Between 2013–2014, likely even longer, I had daily ritual of poring over Polygon to find pieces to blog about. During my stint working in the podcasts industry, I did everything in my power to help promote their shows like The Besties and Mini Map. During my time working in the news industry, I took a go at building their Breath of the Wild review in Apple News format (which turned out great), and had the great fortune of showing it off to then EIC Chris Grant.

Working in games media had (has?) always been a dream for me. For every friend and acquaintance I made at Polygon, that dream had been partially realized. I look up to the folks. I adore their work and how they elevated games journalism. I’m sure I’ll have more to say, but for now, tearing up as I write this, I’m absolutely gutted to see Polygon go. All my best to those affected by this news.