Video Game Website Polygon Sold To Valnet And Hit With Mass Layoffs (kotaku.com) 35
An anonymous reader shares a report: The video game website Polygon has been sold to click-farm powerhouse Valnet and much of its masthead has been laid off, Kotaku has learned. The sale was subsequently announced in a press release. Multiple staff members have posted online about losing their jobs or about colleagues now being out of work.
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BTW kotaku isn't any better lol
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The problem is that being "left-leaning" also made em pretty hostile against the general audience and regular games in general, while not addressing general concerns such as scummy monetization and simplification of the gameplay well enough, ending up looking like being on the side of mega-studios.
Also the tendency of doubling down that many far sides have didn't helped at all the cause.
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I didn't say I don't like their opinion on games. Their opinion is non-existent. It's entirely fabricated to get clicks. Did you miss that part?
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Because they know it gets them clicks. The ONLY articles that had any readership are the ones that got folks to post about how woke polygon is.
Unsurprising (Score:3)
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Somehow a bunch of social activists invaded the videogame scene, annihilated it like the HIV virus and here we are.
Is that how it seems to you? Because how it seems to me is that all of a sudden a (very) vocal subsection of the gaming community couldn't stop themselves from complaining every time the topic comes up about how everybody and their grandma was "woke", and that the entire gaming industry was in total collapse as a result, despite any evidence to the contrary. I must say, I found/find that far more irritating than any actual social issues I've come across in any game I play. Kinda makes me think all these co
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Counterpoint, Anonymous Coward, can you read? I didn't say what you're describing isn't there; I said people complaining about it was more irritating than anything I actually come across. You may have also confused my sentence in which I said "[..] the entire gaming industry was in total collapse [...]" for having just been talking about game journalism. If you thought I was suggesting that Polygon's fall was not a result of their choice of content *shrug* I'm not. I wouldn't know why they failed, and I don
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AC's right though. Politics doesn't need to be in our gaming. Any smart business would avoid political discussions unless that was their entire game, politics.
A business really has nothing to gain by becoming political either. You are going to alienate someone so best to just stick to the topic at hand. The goal is to sell shit to people, not politicize.
Re: yes? (Score:2)
This is, remarkably, one of the worst takes I have ever seen.
Everything is politics. Especially art. Narrative and storytelling is always going to be political. There are games about war between actual countries on this earth and you think games aren't political? Maybe candy crush isn't and that's all you play. But there are political choices made throughout the development of a game, and they can and should be scrutinized through that lens.
Some games are more political than others, definitely. That's fine.
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Sure, through a certain lens, everything is politics. With that said, it isn't AMERICAN politics or even actual REAL politics. It's made up factions politics. Huge difference here.
So when I click through to read about video games, I don't care what Trump's opinion on video games is. I don't care if AOC thinks the game is inclusive enough. It's a game, it's made for entertainment.
So I'm sorry that Polygon lost focus and couldn't stick to video games. Now they are done for because of that poor choice.
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He's flat out wrong. The most outrageous articles are the one that got the most clicks.
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Polygon had seen better days, that's for sure. But in their early days the site was very, very good.
More than anything else, I feel like the site lost its focus somewhere in the last half-decade. The original focus of the site is all in the name: polygons - as in video games. But Vox slowly morphed it into a general pop culture website. These days it's a mix of video games, movies, TV shows, board games, books, etc.
Those are all fine things in and of themselves. But at best they dilute the brand. And at wor
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Do real human beings read this at all
I don't know. I haven't seen an article with the title "I read this, and you should too." Ok jokes aside I'm SOOO FUCKING TIRED of rubbish tripe headlines that are not only cliché, but in some cases aggressively outright telling you what to do.
By the way that article headline was "an that's a great thing". Not even good. GREAT! But in Polygon's defence, that seems to be the only shitty headline. The rest of them are far more ... normal.
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I do love posts that just start off, "I, an ignoramus, think...."
pot meet kettle. (Score:1)
..sold to click-farm powerhouse..
audacious coming from Kotaku...
Who will now call out the fascist subtext of manga (Score:1)
https://www.polygon.com/2019/6... [polygon.com]
"The fascist subtext of Attack on Titan can’t go overlooked"
"The modern manga and anime industries would not exist without Attack on Titan."
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Couldn't get past the first episode of AoT. Seemed just plain stupid and full of holes as well as standard cliches.
If they think manga wouldn't exist without AoT, that tells you all you need to know.
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Everyone knows modern manga and anime industries owe their existence to Tenisu no ôjisama (The Prince of Tennis).
Same firm as TheGamer (Score:1)
Direct content sponsorship (Score:2)
Oh no, what will we do without our thinly veiled ads?
At least Valnet will be able to milk its dead husk of any remaining value.
Fully Ramblomatic or Nothing (Score:2)
Yahtzee Crosshaw is the only game reviewer whose opinion I give two shits about, these days.
Polygon has been hot garbage for a hot minute. I've avoided clicking links to their obnoxious articles for years.
Good riddance, and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out!
Polygon was a video game website? (Score:1)
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Correct. Because that got clicks.
Reminds me (Score:2)