Polygon (website)
 | |
| Web address | polygon.com |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Gaming website |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Owner | Vox Media |
| Editor | Christopher Grant |
| Launched | October 24, 2012 |
| Alexa rank |
 5,403 (February 2014)[1] |
| Current status | Active |
Polygon is an American video gaming website operated by Vox Media, which also publishes The Verge and SB Nation.
The history of Polygon can trace back to early 2011, when Christopher Grant, then the editor-in-chief of AOL gaming blog Joystiq, was approached by Vox CEO Jim Bankoff, himself a former AOL executive. Bankoff offered to focus on online journalism with the launch of a new gaming website. This offer was rejected; Grant, in an interview with Forbes, later commented, "We're just going to ride it out with whatever publisher we're with now until they go out of business, and then we'll flip burgers."[2] However, Vox would launch The Verge in November that year; it features a new and visually-attractive design[citation needed], and contains documentary-line review videos. These attributes, along with endorsements of sponsors like Microsoft and BMW, led Grant to reconsider Bankoff's offer.[2]
In January 2012, Grant brought with him several reporters to the new venture following his departure from Joystiq. He further recruited the editors-in-chief of Kotaku and The Escapist, Brian Crecente and Russ Pitts, respectively; altogether the team numbers 16 members.[2] Grant, as editor-in-chief, said he wanted to join the start-up to have an opportunity to completely redefine the purpose of a gaming website, hoping that, with Polygon's focus on the behind-the-scene aspects and development of a video game, people will find the site valuable.[2][3] Justin McElroy, the site's managing editor, said that Polygon will reflect "the human side of development, and focus things on people."[4]
The venture was initially and tentatively named "Vox Games" while the team searched for a brand under which Grant and his team would be known. From February 21, the editorial team trained and released their work on The Verge under the category "Gaming". In April, Grant announced the name of the new website to be "Polygon", which was selected as the word means many angles, a suitable editorial name (it is derived from the Greek words poly for many and gonia for angles);[5][6][7] polygons are also the basic components of video game graphics.[8] The website was launched on October 24, 2012,[7] when gaming articles previously posted on The Verge were transferred to the new domain.
References
- ↑ "Polygon.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Soloman, Brian (October 24, 2012). "The Inside Story Of Polygon, The Verge's New Gaming Sister-Site". Forbes. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ↑ Duryee, Tricia (October 24, 2012). "Let the Games Begin: Vox Media Launches a New Site Covering Videogames". All Things Digital. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ↑ Stark, Chelsea (October 25, 2012). "Veteran Game Journalists Unite to Launch Vox’s ‘Polygon’". Mashable. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ↑ Grant, Christopher (October 21, 2012). "Welcome to the Vox Games alpha". Polygon. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ↑ Grant, Christopher (April 6, 2012). "Vox Games is dead. Welcome, Polygon". Polygon. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Grant, Christopher (October 24, 2012). "Welcome to Polygon! It's a website (finally)". Polygon. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ↑ Beaujon, Andrew (October 25, 2012). "Why Polygon takes video-games journalism seriously". Poynter Institute. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
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