The Conspiracies About Polybius

     Polybius is a mysterious arcade game that is still shrouded in secrecy to this day. As a result, a couple of conspiracy theories have formed to try to explain the enigma that is Polybius. One of the theories proposes the idea that Polybius was a government experiment that Bobby Feldstein, the only known survivor, was able to escape. However, the more likely theory poses the question if Polybius even existed at all.  

     The first conspiracy theory suggests that Polybius was made by the government as experimentation. This speculation arises from the fact that at the arcades that held a Polybius game “mysterious men in black suits periodically came by to service it”. (Buren) This certainly made people question and view concern as to why they would need information from a seemingly normal arcade game. With the other concerning aspect of Bobby Feldstein waking up sixty miles from his own home after playing the game, this furthered many people's beliefs about the government's involvement. While these facts lead people to believe that Polybius was a government experiment, it really wasn’t. This is because each reason as to why people believe this theory can be just as easily debunked. While in normal circumstances seeing suited men walking around arcades would raise speculation, “federal investigators really were investigating the arcades of the day”.(Brogan) This makes the case of the suited men being there not as suspicious. Even in the case of Feldstein, just a little research will again show you that him having escaped a government experiment is unlikely. The fact that despite him having “another boy with him, one who rescued him” (Buren) no one except Feldstein has come out claiming to have come in contact with these government agents. Even though Polybius has supposedly been around since the 1980s. With the only two sources of evidence to prove the claim of Polybius being a government experiment being easily debunked; it is safe to assume that it is not. 

     The other conspiracy theory begs the question, did Polybius even exist at all? This has been wondered by many over the years because of the lack of evidence from the Polybius case. With all the other pieces of evidence such as the suited men being debunked, the only thing people could really rely on was Feldstein's story. However, even though Bobby Feldstein has been supposedly telling his story online for years, “there is no evidence online that Bobby exists”. (Brogan) There are no photos or videos online mentioning Feldstein. The only time he ever actually exists on the internet is in articles where they are telling the story of Polybius, but even then, he is just a name on a screen. It is simply like he does not exist. Feldstein’s story by far is the most important component in the case of Polybius, but if he doesn’t exist, then what does that make of Polybius? Well, it shows that Polybius is a conspiracy theory with little evidence, no witnesses, and the only known survivor has turned out to be not even real. While this conspiracy still stands to this day, the facts surrounding the case point to the game not existing at all.

     Currently, the Polybius conspiracy theory is still debated online today. While some people continue to believe that Polybius is truly a government experiment, the number of believers in the conspiracy has dwindled since the 80s as more people begin to understand that Polybius most likely does not exist.