Short answers, pulled from the story.
Polygon was officially launched on the 24th of October 2012 as Vox Media's third property. The site was developed over ten months by eight co-founding editors including editors-in-chief from Joystiq, Kotaku, and The Escapist.
Jim Bankoff initiated the creation of Polygon in early 2011 through a phone call to Christopher Grant. The project officially began after Grant accepted the proposal and the team started building the site over the following ten months.
Vox Media sold Polygon to Valnet in May 2025 resulting in the layoff of most staff including Executive Editor Chris Plante. The sale ended the site's relationship with Vox Media and resulted in the retention of about ten staff members by Valnet.
Polygon dropped scored reviews entirely by September 2018 to replace the traditional scoring system with the Polygon Recommends feature. This change allowed reviewers to support games they felt were worth playing and created a curated list of Polygon Essentials.
Polygon hired Susana Polo in 2015 to broaden the site's scope from games-only coverage to include pop culture and entertainment. This move marked a transition toward progressive and feminist principles in the wake of the Gamergate controversy.