Polygon, a gaming website launched by Vox Media in 2012, has been sold to Canadian publisher Valnet.Valnet is the owner of many online entertainment, sports and hobbies publications such as Game Rant, FextraLife, TheGamer, etc.
Polygon's large number of employees have been laid off or resigned, including Chris Plant, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the website.
“I’m no longer working for Polygon,” Plant said on Bluesky. “If you’re hiring, consider the many talented authors and editors on the market right now. Each of them deserves a place on your team. I won’t talk about this sale anymore because I’m not involved.”
The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) said in a statement released on Friday that the employees who were laid off were members of the Vox Media union and were affiliated with the Eastern Conference writers union.
"There is only one month left before the expiration of Vox Media's current union contract, which announced yesterday that it had sold Polygon and laid off members of the website's negotiating team," the union said.
Leaving staff include special project editor Matt Leon, who has worked on the site since its inception in 2012, writing acclaimed oral history about Street Fighter 2 and Final Fantasy 7; senior journalist Nicole Carpenter, who focuses on long investigative coverage; and content planning editor Pete Volker, who says he was fired along with "almost everyone at Polygon."
Polygon is Vox Media’s third publication, founded in 2012 and is positioned as “a new website based on new technologies and supported by new media companies.”Its core mission is to bring more long feature-length and investigative coverage to game coverage, and since then, its business scope has expanded to other entertainment and cultural areas.
“The acquisition of Polygon not only strengthens our editorial strength, but also enhances our ability to provide unparalleled value to audiences and advertisers,” Valnet CEO Hassan Yousof said in a statement.
In April, Valnet filed a lawsuit against media agency The Wrap in an investigative report.The report described Valnet as a "digital sweatshop" which Valnet called the article "an incitement and offensive article."The Wrap's legal counsel called Valnet's lawsuit "inconsistent, contradictory and unfounded."
The 2020s are full of turmoil for gaming-related media.Launcher, the game segment of The Washington Post, closed in 2023, and Vice's Waypoint also closed in the same year.Game Informer, a historic American magazine, was scrambled to close last year, but was reopened this year by a new investor.Like Polygon today, some other publications are facing acquisitions and layoffs.
Also this week, fan media company Fandom "temporarily suspended Giant Bomb's live broadcast business" as "part of a strategic reset and adjustment."Fandom acquired Giant Bomb in 2022.
