Gaming website Polygon, which was launched by Vox Media in 2012, has been sold to Canadian publisher Valnet, owner of Game Rant, FextraLife, and TheGamer, among a number of other online entertainment, sports, and hobbyist publications.
A substantial number of Polygon staff members have been laid off or quit, including site co-founder and editor-in-chief Chris Plante.
"I'm no longer with Polygon," wrote Plante in a Bluesky post. "If you're hiring, please consider the many talented writers and editors now on the market. Every one of them deserves a spot on your staff. I won't be talking more about the sale because I wasn't involved."
Those who were laid off were Vox Media Union members with the Writers Guild of America East, the WGAE said in a statement issued Friday.
"With only a month left until the current union contract expires at Vox Media, the company yesterday announced it sold Polygon and laid off the bargaining unit at the site," said the union.
Among the exiting staff are special projects editor Matt Leone, who has been with Polygon since its founding in 2012 and wrote its celebrated oral histories of Street Fighter 2 and Final Fantasy 7, senior reporter Nicole Carpenter, who focuses on long-form investigative reporting, and curation editor Pete Volk, who said that he was let go along with "just about everyone else at Polygon."
Polygon was Vox Media's third publication, founded in 2012 as "a new kind of website, built on new technology, backed by a new kind of media company." Central to its mission was bringing more long-form features and investigative reports to gaming coverage, and it has since expanded into other entertainment and culture spheres.
"The addition of Polygon not only strengthens our editorial muscle but also amplifies our ability to deliver unmatched value to both audiences and advertisers," said Valnet CEO Hassan Youssef in a statement.
In April, Valnet sued media outlet The Wrap over an investigative report which characterizes the publisher as a "digital sweatshop," calling the article "an inflammatory hit piece." The Wrap's legal counsel describes Valnet's lawsuits as "inconsistent, contradictory and meritless."
The 2020s have been turbulent for gaming-related media. The Washington Post's gaming section, Launcher, was closed in 2023, and Vice's Waypoint was shuttered the same year. Long-running US magazine Game Informer was unceremoniously closed last year, but was reopened by a new investor this year. Other publications have faced acquisitions and layoffs, as Polygon has today.
Also this week, Fandom has "temporarily paused Giant Bomb live streaming" as "part of a strategic reset and realignment," Kotaku reports. Fandom acquired Giant Bomb in 2022.
