The company named in most accounts of the game is Sinneslöschen. Approximately one month after its supposed release in 1981, Polybius is said to have disappeared without a trace. Players supposedly suffered from a series of unpleasant side effects, including seizures, amnesia, insomnia, night terrors, and hallucinations. The machines were visited by men in black, who collected unknown data from the machines, allegedly testing responses to the game's psychoactive effects. The game was popular to the point of addiction, with lines forming around the machines and often resulting in fights over who would play next.
The urban legend says that in 1981, when new arcade games were uncommon, an unheard-of new arcade game appeared in several suburbs of Portland, Oregon. A mocked-up Polybius cabinet made by Rogue Synapse
