Former Polygon Writers Launch Big Friendly Guide for Gaming Help

In the wake of significant layoffs at Polygon following its sale to Valnet, two former guides writers, Ryan Gilliam and Jeffrey Parkin, have taken a bold step to continue their passion for helping gamers. They launched Big Friendly Guide, a website dedicated to providing detailed, accessible gaming guides that enhance player enjoyment.

Guides have always been more than just instructions for Gilliam and Parkin; they represent a way to connect with fellow gamers and enrich their experience. As Gilliam puts it, creating guides feels like helping someone enjoy something important to both the creator and the player. When their roles at Polygon ended, they wanted to keep that connection alive.

Big Friendly Guide offers most of its content for free, ensuring accessibility for all players. To sustain their work, Gilliam and Parkin have introduced a Patreon model, offering supporters exclusive access to a Discord community and a monthly subscriber-only podcast discussing upcoming coverage. A weekly podcast is also available to everyone, fostering ongoing engagement.

The site will initially run ads to cover operational costs, but the founders emphasize building a trusted community over aggressive monetization. They invite gamers to suggest guides, making the platform interactive and responsive to the community’s needs.

Big Friendly Guide joins a growing wave of indie gaming outlets launched by former Polygon staffers, reflecting a broader trend toward independent, community-focused gaming journalism and content creation. Unlike large corporate ventures, Gilliam and Parkin’s approach is modest and sustainable, focused on passion rather than profit.

This initiative highlights how creators can leverage community trust and direct support models to sustain niche content. It’s a reminder that in the gaming world, sometimes the best guides come from those who truly love the games and want to share that joy with others.