Vox sells Polygon to Valnet in a blow to video game market

Vox media has sold Polygon, its video game and entertainment publication, to Valnet, owner of several entertainment brands including Collider, TheGamer, and GameRant. “Many” staff have reportedly been laid off in the sale. The news broke as workers took to Bluesky and other social media platforms to announce they are now out of a job, including editor-in-chief Chris Plante.

Layoffs in games media have run paralell to massive layoffs in games. This sale means that Polygon, considered one of the most successful media outlets in games, will have a reduced ability to report on the game industry and to connect players with developers.

Plante notes in his post: “I’m no longer with Polygon. 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.”

Staffers from seemingly every department were affected, including reporters, entertainment writers, video producers, and writers and editors from the guides, curation, and social media departments.

A press release notes that Polygon will join Valnet’s gaming portfolio, and a quote by Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff appears to confirm that Vox is getting out of the game media business with this sale.

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“This transaction will enable us to focus our energies and investment resources in other priority areas of growth across our portfolio of iconic digital publications and audio/video programming, while enabling Valnet to grow their leadership and authority in the gaming information category.”

Consolidation and layoffs in game media

The sale—and layoff of so many media workers—is perhaps just the latest (and most visible) incident in the increased consolidation and conglomeration of game media in the last decade. Fandom acquired Gamespot in 2022, alongside Giant Bomb and other sites. Last year, IGN acquired the Gamer Network of brands (including GI.biz, Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, and more).

Layoffs, whether they are mentioned or not in cheerful corporate pressers, are common in these deals. We need only look at EA’s recent layoffs for similar obfuscation in its communications about cuts.

Disclosure: The author of this piece was a senior reviewer and video producer at Polygon from 2013-2015.