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Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment
New York Times bestselling author and the gaming industry's preeminent investigative journalist Jason Schreier examines three decades of ups and downs at Blizzard Entertainment leading up to a hostile corporate takeover and a sexual misconduct scandal that put the legendary developer in a world of (Warcraft) trouble.
For video game fans, the name Blizzard Entertainment was once synonymous with perfection. The renowned company celebrated the joy of gaming over all else, and every product it released was an instant classic: StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and World of Warcraft, which forever changed the video game landscape. What was once two UCLA students' simple mission — to make games they wanted to play — launched an empire with thousands of employees, millions of fans, and billions of dollars.
But when Blizzard cancelled a buzzy project in 2013, it gave Bobby Kotick, the infamous CEO of corporate parent Activision, the excuse he needed to start cracking down on Blizzard's proud autonomy. Led by executives from McKinsey and Procter & Gamble, Activision began invading Blizzard from the inside, driving away throngs of key employees in a push for predictability over creativity. Glitchy products, PR disasters, and mass layoffs followed, marring the company’s once pristine image. In 2021, the state of California filed a staggering lawsuit against the company for sexual misconduct and discrimination, leading to a widespread reckoning and a $69 billion acquisition that sent shockwaves through the industry.
Based on firsthand interviews with more than 300 current and former employees, PLAY NICE chronicles the creativity, frustration, beauty, and betrayal across the epic 33-year saga of Blizzard Entertainment — and explores the delight and despair of what it really means to "bleed Blizzard blue." Full of colorful personalities and dramatic twists, PLAY NICE is The Social Network for the video game industry.
For video game fans, the name Blizzard Entertainment was once synonymous with perfection. The renowned company celebrated the joy of gaming over all else, and every product it released was an instant classic: StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and World of Warcraft, which forever changed the video game landscape. What was once two UCLA students' simple mission — to make games they wanted to play — launched an empire with thousands of employees, millions of fans, and billions of dollars.
But when Blizzard cancelled a buzzy project in 2013, it gave Bobby Kotick, the infamous CEO of corporate parent Activision, the excuse he needed to start cracking down on Blizzard's proud autonomy. Led by executives from McKinsey and Procter & Gamble, Activision began invading Blizzard from the inside, driving away throngs of key employees in a push for predictability over creativity. Glitchy products, PR disasters, and mass layoffs followed, marring the company’s once pristine image. In 2021, the state of California filed a staggering lawsuit against the company for sexual misconduct and discrimination, leading to a widespread reckoning and a $69 billion acquisition that sent shockwaves through the industry.
Based on firsthand interviews with more than 300 current and former employees, PLAY NICE chronicles the creativity, frustration, beauty, and betrayal across the epic 33-year saga of Blizzard Entertainment — and explores the delight and despair of what it really means to "bleed Blizzard blue." Full of colorful personalities and dramatic twists, PLAY NICE is The Social Network for the video game industry.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published October 8, 2024
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October 14, 2024
Audiobook (9 hours 16 minutes) narrated by Ray Chase
Narration is very good.
The Audio is also very good, without distortion or erroneous noise. There is an entire paragraph not so subtly dropped into chapter 11, I'm pretty sure there was just the one sloppy edit I didn't note another and I was so distracted with other things I forgot if there were others, so I guess it was all good. lol!
Jason Schreier wrote a generally good overview of the company. His timeline seemed a bit off here and there with atleast one point that seems pretty off, I wish I had this in print to go back and look and see if he is jumping around a bit and just not telling the story straight down the timeline. I did go back and check and the timeline was fine. He does jump around a little bit, which if you know the details may give you pause, but it is generally accurate.
There's also some things that seem glaringly missing. Although the industry has grown very large, there was a lot of noise surrounding certain elements that should have been mentioned.
Due to the nature of the book, I don't think we can say that there are actual spoilers, as it's the history of the company. If you don't know what happened and you legitimately want the book to be a surprise, you should probably stop reading now as I don't plan to hold back. I have some feelings and some words.
Jason Schreier did a fantastic job of giving little special details of the games when Blizzard was coming up, like using the name Kerrigan from Nancy Kerrigan, the ice skater, for a character in StarCraft, a game that they claim they built after being turned down by Lucas Arts in building a Star Wars game; or the Leroy Jenkins/Pals for Life viral video in World of Warcraft. He did not do the same for the fall. He completely glossed over some contentious issues that I personally thought were important. While I don't expect for everything to be included, I expect the same attention to detail when things were starting to shake.
Some of the things I would have liked to see are:
Blue notes - I believe it was Chris Metzen that introduced blue notes, or maybe ghostcrawler who introduced them. At the time Blizzard was going through changes and gamers were concerned, some freaking out, that their favorite parts of the game they were playing would change or be removed. Blizzard had a policy that they did not talk with the gamers, didn't explain themselves. They made the games, they made the decisions. One, or both, of theses guys (someone reading my review help my out my ADHD makes my names flipflop sometimes!) convinced the powers that be to try out what would be knows as blue notes , which are notes with a Blizzard blue background that talk about up and coming changes so gamers know what to expect. This was a game changer!
The community started to look forward to the notes. We felt important and that our thoughts and concerns mattered. Sure, it doesn't make everything awesome, but having open lines of communication in games that some of us have played for years, yeah... they built a bridge and we met in the middle.
SWTOR, Rift, and to a lesser extent, Wildstar - Schreier mentioned games that Blizzard blew out of the water, but not games of concern. When Rift came out it was a huge concern that it would actually be a possible WoW killer. World of Warcraft had become the matrix that other mmo's were trying to reach and everything was going to be the next WoW killer, in conversation, but Rift was perhaps the first game that actually had potential. Rift pulled a lot of players out of WoW, making it difficult for mid-tier guilds to get their raids going, and people were worried, but while Rift had a good hook, they didn't know how to retain their players and it was only a few months before everyone was back playing WoW.
SWTOR, Star Wars of The Old Republic, is a game that the players were watching for a long time. A lot of people called it WoW with light sabers. Some of the most hard core, long time players left for SWTOR. The timing was bad for Blizzard. SWTOR finally released at the end of Cata, right before the Mists of Pandaria (MoP) expansion dropped. The fact that the last raid of Cataclysm was less than desirable and MoP was being called Kung-Fu Panda, not in a good way, was bad for Blizzard. I was on the oldest realm of the server and we lost some old school guilds to SWTOR, that even after EA managed to mess with a good thing, they didn't come back to WoW.
Blizzard made a lot of changes, introducing a lot of quality of life changes to a lot of gamers, but they overcompensated for the casual crowd.
Wildstar released with the intention of being hard core for hard core players and that sounded good to a lot of people who were frustrated with the over casualization that was happening in Blizzard's mmo, but Wildstar was buggy and Blizzard heard the players and made changes.
While there is a lot more to Blizzard than WoW, WoW was their gold star game for a long minute, plus Schreier mentioned them being turned down by Lucas Arts. It seems significant that when Bioware was given the go ahead to make SWTOR, the first Star Wars MMO, and it impacted Blizzards MMO, that, at the very least, of the three games SWTOR should get a mention!
Ion Hazzikostas - Unless I missed something, I never heard them mention Ion. There's a lot of moving parts at Blizzard and Schreier mentioned most of the heavy hitters. Ion belongs in that conversation and leaving him out was a huge oversight. Maybe they can pencil him in somewhere?
Cube Crawls, breast milk, the Cosby suite - Again, if you are going to give sweet details that are going to pull at the heart strings giving us the warm fuzzies of the early days, you need to give some of the harsher, harder details of the reality of the mess that Blizzard became. Simply saying cube crawls and not mentioning what it meant is a huge cop out. Seriously? Yes, grown men were drinking on the job, physically crawling under the cubicles and desks of work associates, including women, sexually harassing, and being drunken assholes. Some of the male employees were taking and drinking women's pumped breast milk that they had pumped, labeled and refrigerated in what should have been a safe and secure place until they could take it home to their infants. Arguing that the Cosby suite, complete with a huge photograph of Bill Cosby and an assortment of alcohol and other things was actually the Crosby suite and that the charges for Cosby came out after the fact, wasn't cute considering that women, both employees and fans, were invited to the suite, fed free alcohol and harassed. I don't want to get into the lawsuit, but it's all public record, including Cosby's picture. I think there's also a Kotaku article or 12
Overall, I would say this is a strong 4 stars. Despite some of the things I felt were lacking, this novel seemed decently well researched, with some good details and points that will interest Blizzard fans, gamers, devs, and business nerds of various interests, including financials and marketing.
World of Warcraft alone is coming up on it's 20th anniversary, with another 10 years added on to that for the inception of the first Warcraft game, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and another three before Warcraft was a thing, so Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment is an ambitious undertaking of 33 years with several titles under it's belt, acquisitions, separations, being acquisitioned.
Let's Go!
I was excited to finish this one, mull it over, and discuss it with my long time gamer friends. It's possible that I may update this in the future as more people in my friend group read it, if there's anything notable discussed that they don't mind me adding to my review.
GG (Good Game, for my non-gamer friends and readers)
Edit: I failed to add that I learned about this book through Bellular News, in this video:
https://youtu.be/O-CglyonjPU?si=29k0L...
I have not gone back and watched the video since I read the book but I went back to his channel and it looks like he is going through the book, or at least parts of it, in detail. I have been a long time fan of Bellular's on point and thorough gaming reporting, so if the book interests you, you may want to check out what Bellular has to say.
Narration is very good.
The Audio is also very good, without distortion or erroneous noise. There is an entire paragraph not so subtly dropped into chapter 11, I'm pretty sure there was just the one sloppy edit I didn't note another and I was so distracted with other things I forgot if there were others, so I guess it was all good. lol!
Jason Schreier wrote a generally good overview of the company. His timeline seemed a bit off here and there with at
There's also some things that seem glaringly missing. Although the industry has grown very large, there was a lot of noise surrounding certain elements that should have been mentioned.
Due to the nature of the book, I don't think we can say that there are actual spoilers, as it's the history of the company. If you don't know what happened and you legitimately want the book to be a surprise, you should probably stop reading now as I don't plan to hold back. I have some feelings and some words.
Jason Schreier did a fantastic job of giving little special details of the games when Blizzard was coming up, like using the name Kerrigan from Nancy Kerrigan, the ice skater, for a character in StarCraft, a game that they claim they built after being turned down by Lucas Arts in building a Star Wars game; or the Leroy Jenkins/Pals for Life viral video in World of Warcraft. He did not do the same for the fall. He completely glossed over some contentious issues that I personally thought were important. While I don't expect for everything to be included, I expect the same attention to detail when things were starting to shake.
Some of the things I would have liked to see are:
Blue notes - I believe it was Chris Metzen that introduced blue notes, or maybe ghostcrawler who introduced them. At the time Blizzard was going through changes and gamers were concerned, some freaking out, that their favorite parts of the game they were playing would change or be removed. Blizzard had a policy that they did not talk with the gamers, didn't explain themselves. They made the games, they made the decisions. One, or both, of theses guys (someone reading my review help my out my ADHD makes my names flipflop sometimes!) convinced the powers that be to try out what would be knows as blue notes , which are notes with a Blizzard blue background that talk about up and coming changes so gamers know what to expect. This was a game changer!
The community started to look forward to the notes. We felt important and that our thoughts and concerns mattered. Sure, it doesn't make everything awesome, but having open lines of communication in games that some of us have played for years, yeah... they built a bridge and we met in the middle.
SWTOR, Rift, and to a lesser extent, Wildstar - Schreier mentioned games that Blizzard blew out of the water, but not games of concern. When Rift came out it was a huge concern that it would actually be a possible WoW killer. World of Warcraft had become the matrix that other mmo's were trying to reach and everything was going to be the next WoW killer, in conversation, but Rift was perhaps the first game that actually had potential. Rift pulled a lot of players out of WoW, making it difficult for mid-tier guilds to get their raids going, and people were worried, but while Rift had a good hook, they didn't know how to retain their players and it was only a few months before everyone was back playing WoW.
SWTOR, Star Wars of The Old Republic, is a game that the players were watching for a long time. A lot of people called it WoW with light sabers. Some of the most hard core, long time players left for SWTOR. The timing was bad for Blizzard. SWTOR finally released at the end of Cata, right before the Mists of Pandaria (MoP) expansion dropped. The fact that the last raid of Cataclysm was less than desirable and MoP was being called Kung-Fu Panda, not in a good way, was bad for Blizzard. I was on the oldest realm of the server and we lost some old school guilds to SWTOR, that even after EA managed to mess with a good thing, they didn't come back to WoW.
Blizzard made a lot of changes, introducing a lot of quality of life changes to a lot of gamers, but they overcompensated for the casual crowd.
Wildstar released with the intention of being hard core for hard core players and that sounded good to a lot of people who were frustrated with the over casualization that was happening in Blizzard's mmo, but Wildstar was buggy and Blizzard heard the players and made changes.
While there is a lot more to Blizzard than WoW, WoW was their gold star game for a long minute, plus Schreier mentioned them being turned down by Lucas Arts. It seems significant that when Bioware was given the go ahead to make SWTOR, the first Star Wars MMO, and it impacted Blizzards MMO, that, at the very least, of the three games SWTOR should get a mention!
Ion Hazzikostas - Unless I missed something, I never heard them mention Ion. There's a lot of moving parts at Blizzard and Schreier mentioned most of the heavy hitters. Ion belongs in that conversation and leaving him out was a huge oversight. Maybe they can pencil him in somewhere?
Cube Crawls, breast milk, the Cosby suite - Again, if you are going to give sweet details that are going to pull at the heart strings giving us the warm fuzzies of the early days, you need to give some of the harsher, harder details of the reality of the mess that Blizzard became. Simply saying cube crawls and not mentioning what it meant is a huge cop out. Seriously? Yes, grown men were drinking on the job, physically crawling under the cubicles and desks of work associates, including women, sexually harassing, and being drunken assholes. Some of the male employees were taking and drinking women's pumped breast milk that they had pumped, labeled and refrigerated in what should have been a safe and secure place until they could take it home to their infants. Arguing that the Cosby suite, complete with a huge photograph of Bill Cosby and an assortment of alcohol and other things was actually the Crosby suite and that the charges for Cosby came out after the fact, wasn't cute considering that women, both employees and fans, were invited to the suite, fed free alcohol and harassed. I don't want to get into the lawsuit, but it's all public record, including Cosby's picture. I think there's also a Kotaku article or 12
Overall, I would say this is a strong 4 stars. Despite some of the things I felt were lacking, this novel seemed decently well researched, with some good details and points that will interest Blizzard fans, gamers, devs, and business nerds of various interests, including financials and marketing.
World of Warcraft alone is coming up on it's 20th anniversary, with another 10 years added on to that for the inception of the first Warcraft game, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and another three before Warcraft was a thing, so Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment is an ambitious undertaking of 33 years with several titles under it's belt, acquisitions, separations, being acquisitioned.
Let's Go!
I was excited to finish this one, mull it over, and discuss it with my long time gamer friends. It's possible that I may update this in the future as more people in my friend group read it, if there's anything notable discussed that they don't mind me adding to my review.
GG (Good Game, for my non-gamer friends and readers)
Edit: I failed to add that I learned about this book through Bellular News, in this video:
https://youtu.be/O-CglyonjPU?si=29k0L...
I have not gone back and watched the video since I read the book but I went back to his channel and it looks like he is going through the book, or at least parts of it, in detail. I have been a long time fan of Bellular's on point and thorough gaming reporting, so if the book interests you, you may want to check out what Bellular has to say.
November 14, 2024
Greetings! You've likely arrived at this page for one of 3* reasons:
1) you read Jason's other book(s). Great news! This is also an interesting, approachable look at one of the Western world's most famous video game companies. Highly recommend.
2) you love video games in general / Blizzard games specifically. Great news! Jason is one of the best nonfiction writers in the video game space - like the This American Life of video games. You're going to learn so much, and if you have a particular attachment to Blizzard or any specific Blizzard properties, I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.
3) you worked for Blizzard. Uh oh! Babe this is gonna be so crazy for you??
This is wholly and entirely the story of Blizzard, which like most companies, is long, complicated, occasionally boring, and goes through periods of exciting innovation and terribly preventable tragedy. Basically, all corporate bios are Jurassic Park: as it turns out, money and success ruins everything good.
Grounded in hundreds of interviews, it is remarkable how even-keel the narrative manages to be. Jason reports on some folks who do objectively (and subjectively) terrible things as three dimensional people. (Can you believe the guy that essentially invented microtransactions also used to pay for employees' vacations?)
I will say, I think he's treated industry women well in his previous two works, and he didn't treat them poorly in this one. But the chapter on assault and harassment felt detached - akin to the documentarian recording antelope getting eaten. I understand his desire to be balanced and avoid being salacious, which is why it didn't lose a star for me, but his particular detraction against an infamous Kotaku article comes across as odd. Jason’s points about when the suite got its name seemed like such a small point to argue in the face of rampant, blatant sexual harassment.
Personally, I was a little disappointed. In the beginning of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels Jason makes note of the fact almost everyone in the book is a man by saying, essentially, "We need to talk about the gender inequality issues in the video games industry, but that's another book entirely." I thought for sure this book, tackling "frat boy" Blizzard, would be that book. Alas.
I’ve listened to all three of Jason’s books on audiobook, and they have the same narrator: Ray Chase. Chase does a phenomenal job capturing the humor and irony, and makes the books that much better.
I was familiar with Blizzard properties and have played a few, but feel no particular attachment to any. That said, I still enjoyed the book and the stories within. I’m sure if I loved Warcraft or Overwatch etc, I would have loved it even more.
All in all, I think this book is easier to follow than Press Reset (which is complicated due to its own nature), but his best is still Blood, Sweat, and Pixels.
Thank you Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley, I deeply appreciate early access to this title. Happy publishing week, Play Nice!
uh-oh! a secret 4th audience!
*4) If you’re one of my 5 friends on GR, a girlie in the publishing industry, I do think it’s worth reading one of Jason’s books. Book publishing and video game publishing often feel like parallel tracks with some incredibly drastic deviations. It gives a sense of surrealism, to see all the similarities - from emotional/cultural in working in a ‘dream job’ industry, to logistical as the internal teams essentially operate like imprints - but the differences….. good Lord. Even in Blizzard’s early heyday, the team members were still having fistfights in the office and chucking keyboards at each other. The demographic split is almost an exact mirror - 80/20 men/women in video games, 80/20 women/men in publishing - and it feels like there’s more here I want to say, but I can’t particularly put my finger on it.
//////
a variety of pre-pub mumbles:
can video game journalists have superfans (yes) (us)
updated july 2024:
hey netgalley if you read this I'm free thursday night and would love to read play nice. please please grant me this book and then on thursday night I will read it when I'm free. xoxoxo. rach.
updated sept 2024:
i got an arc!!!! I GOT AN ARC!!!!! I GOT AN ARC!!!!! grand central publishing if you're reading these words, know that I would kiss your feet if possible
1) you read Jason's other book(s). Great news! This is also an interesting, approachable look at one of the Western world's most famous video game companies. Highly recommend.
2) you love video games in general / Blizzard games specifically. Great news! Jason is one of the best nonfiction writers in the video game space - like the This American Life of video games. You're going to learn so much, and if you have a particular attachment to Blizzard or any specific Blizzard properties, I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.
3) you worked for Blizzard. Uh oh! Babe this is gonna be so crazy for you??
This is wholly and entirely the story of Blizzard, which like most companies, is long, complicated, occasionally boring, and goes through periods of exciting innovation and terribly preventable tragedy. Basically, all corporate bios are Jurassic Park: as it turns out, money and success ruins everything good.
Grounded in hundreds of interviews, it is remarkable how even-keel the narrative manages to be. Jason reports on some folks who do objectively (and subjectively) terrible things as three dimensional people. (Can you believe the guy that essentially invented microtransactions also used to pay for employees' vacations?)
I will say, I think he's treated industry women well in his previous two works, and he didn't treat them poorly in this one. But the chapter on assault and harassment felt detached - akin to the documentarian recording antelope getting eaten. I understand his desire to be balanced and avoid being salacious, which is why it didn't lose a star for me, but his particular detraction against an infamous Kotaku article comes across as odd. Jason’s points about when the suite got its name seemed like such a small point to argue in the face of rampant, blatant sexual harassment.
Personally, I was a little disappointed. In the beginning of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels Jason makes note of the fact almost everyone in the book is a man by saying, essentially, "We need to talk about the gender inequality issues in the video games industry, but that's another book entirely." I thought for sure this book, tackling "frat boy" Blizzard, would be that book. Alas.
I’ve listened to all three of Jason’s books on audiobook, and they have the same narrator: Ray Chase. Chase does a phenomenal job capturing the humor and irony, and makes the books that much better.
I was familiar with Blizzard properties and have played a few, but feel no particular attachment to any. That said, I still enjoyed the book and the stories within. I’m sure if I loved Warcraft or Overwatch etc, I would have loved it even more.
All in all, I think this book is easier to follow than Press Reset (which is complicated due to its own nature), but his best is still Blood, Sweat, and Pixels.
Thank you Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley, I deeply appreciate early access to this title. Happy publishing week, Play Nice!
uh-oh! a secret 4th audience!
*4) If you’re one of my 5 friends on GR, a girlie in the publishing industry, I do think it’s worth reading one of Jason’s books. Book publishing and video game publishing often feel like parallel tracks with some incredibly drastic deviations. It gives a sense of surrealism, to see all the similarities - from emotional/cultural in working in a ‘dream job’ industry, to logistical as the internal teams essentially operate like imprints - but the differences….. good Lord. Even in Blizzard’s early heyday, the team members were still having fistfights in the office and chucking keyboards at each other. The demographic split is almost an exact mirror - 80/20 men/women in video games, 80/20 women/men in publishing - and it feels like there’s more here I want to say, but I can’t particularly put my finger on it.
//////
a variety of pre-pub mumbles:
can video game journalists have superfans (yes) (us)
updated july 2024:
hey netgalley if you read this I'm free thursday night and would love to read play nice. please please grant me this book and then on thursday night I will read it when I'm free. xoxoxo. rach.
updated sept 2024:
i got an arc!!!! I GOT AN ARC!!!!! I GOT AN ARC!!!!! grand central publishing if you're reading these words, know that I would kiss your feet if possible
November 3, 2024
4.5 stars
While this is undoubtedly Schreier's best book, it is not without flaws.
His writing is fantastic, as always, and provides a great overall profile of my once-upon-a-time favourite studio. However, I am not overly enthusiastic about how detached he seemed from the recent scandal and sexual discrimination & harassment lawsuit. It felt as if more space and empathy were given to two male employees affected by a misinformed article than to the tens (if not more) women affected by the company’s abusive and discriminatory culture through the decades.
It seems that I am not alone in being at odds with how Schreier handled that part of Blizzard’s history. Nevertheless, it is still a very enjoyable read, which I devoured in practically two days.
While this is undoubtedly Schreier's best book, it is not without flaws.
His writing is fantastic, as always, and provides a great overall profile of my once-upon-a-time favourite studio. However, I am not overly enthusiastic about how detached he seemed from the recent scandal and sexual discrimination & harassment lawsuit. It felt as if more space and empathy were given to two male employees affected by a misinformed article than to the tens (if not more) women affected by the company’s abusive and discriminatory culture through the decades.
It seems that I am not alone in being at odds with how Schreier handled that part of Blizzard’s history. Nevertheless, it is still a very enjoyable read, which I devoured in practically two days.
October 9, 2024
I'm a WoW nerd, so this was super interesting, in general. I'd known that Kotek was a giant butthead, trying to push profits over players, but to see all of that unfold...yikes.
The part that knocked this down for me is that the sexual abuse allegations were fairly glossed over, going so far as to make an argument about the "Cosby Suite" being a reference to a sweater (!?!!?), made me rankle a little. A woman is *dead* because of those "allegations". Dozens more have come forward to talk about the toxic, misogynist, bro-culture that Blizzard became before California brought down the banhammer.
But sure. It's a sweater reference. I believe you, Chadwick.
There's no real revelations in here that you couldn't really get from following the company, but the compilation of it all, along a single timeline, was interesting enough. This WoW nerd's satisfied, if not, y'know, wowed.
(Sorry, had to. I'll see myself out.)
The part that knocked this down for me is that the sexual abuse allegations were fairly glossed over, going so far as to make an argument about the "Cosby Suite" being a reference to a sweater (!?!!?), made me rankle a little. A woman is *dead* because of those "allegations". Dozens more have come forward to talk about the toxic, misogynist, bro-culture that Blizzard became before California brought down the banhammer.
But sure. It's a sweater reference. I believe you, Chadwick.
There's no real revelations in here that you couldn't really get from following the company, but the compilation of it all, along a single timeline, was interesting enough. This WoW nerd's satisfied, if not, y'know, wowed.
(Sorry, had to. I'll see myself out.)
November 19, 2024
What should you know about this book?
1. The author - JS - is one of the most renowned gaming journalists ever; in general, no one can accuse him of not knowing the things around
2. This is a story of Blizzard Entertainment pretty much from the inception until 2024 - it feels pretty complete, BUT if you've been with Blizzard games since the beginning (in my case: Lost Vikings, then Warcraft I), you've probably know already 95% of the drama described here
3. The author has (most likely on purpose) skipped many details as those would be interesting only to the narrow group of oldtimers/dedicated gamers, e.g., what bad design decisions have caused the popularity decline in WoW.
4. The only really new facts for me were how the deal with Vivendi originated, some details regarding the Activision-Blizzard deal, more details on sexual misconduct, and who was involved.
As you can see, based on these few points, it's not perfectly clear who this book is for. Die-hard fans? Probably not. People who have recently discovered some Blizzard games and never heard about the former glory? Possibly, but not likely. Gaming history passionates who will read anything related to the industry, especially its biggest names? Most likely.
Solid writing, doesn't get boring, even if you can easily predict what will happen next ;)
P.S. Does Schreier attempt to speculate on the future - can Blizzard regain its former status or not? No, he doesn't. Good for him, I believe.
1. The author - JS - is one of the most renowned gaming journalists ever; in general, no one can accuse him of not knowing the things around
2. This is a story of Blizzard Entertainment pretty much from the inception until 2024 - it feels pretty complete, BUT if you've been with Blizzard games since the beginning (in my case: Lost Vikings, then Warcraft I), you've probably know already 95% of the drama described here
3. The author has (most likely on purpose) skipped many details as those would be interesting only to the narrow group of oldtimers/dedicated gamers, e.g., what bad design decisions have caused the popularity decline in WoW.
4. The only really new facts for me were how the deal with Vivendi originated, some details regarding the Activision-Blizzard deal, more details on sexual misconduct, and who was involved.
As you can see, based on these few points, it's not perfectly clear who this book is for. Die-hard fans? Probably not. People who have recently discovered some Blizzard games and never heard about the former glory? Possibly, but not likely. Gaming history passionates who will read anything related to the industry, especially its biggest names? Most likely.
Solid writing, doesn't get boring, even if you can easily predict what will happen next ;)
P.S. Does Schreier attempt to speculate on the future - can Blizzard regain its former status or not? No, he doesn't. Good for him, I believe.
November 13, 2024
This was a lot of fun, especially for a former Blizzard fan. If you want to know more about how Blizzard came to be, how it rose to be one of the most loved game companies of all time and how Bobby Kotick ruined it, this is a book for you.
Blizzard games played a very important part of my childhood and early youth, so it pains me today to see a company barely a shell of its former self. Schreier takes us on a journey starting all the way back in the 90s, with just two guys and a dream. His writing style is easy to read and does a really good job at making it feel like a story rather than just a summary of events.
Reading this gave me that good old nostalgic feeling from the old days when Blizzard was at its peak, but also a deep sadness for what has transpired at the company for the past 10 years. Can it be redeemed by the new owners Microsoft? Time will tell.
This book left me wanting more and I will look out for whatever Schreier does next.
Blizzard games played a very important part of my childhood and early youth, so it pains me today to see a company barely a shell of its former self. Schreier takes us on a journey starting all the way back in the 90s, with just two guys and a dream. His writing style is easy to read and does a really good job at making it feel like a story rather than just a summary of events.
Reading this gave me that good old nostalgic feeling from the old days when Blizzard was at its peak, but also a deep sadness for what has transpired at the company for the past 10 years. Can it be redeemed by the new owners Microsoft? Time will tell.
This book left me wanting more and I will look out for whatever Schreier does next.
October 18, 2024
Serviceable history of Blizzard, but bone dry, with nothing particularly revealing and no real insight beyond surface-level reporting, like a very long Wikipedia entry. I am a nerd and read a lot of long Wikipedia entries, so this was fine for me, at least.
(ps the book someone should actually write is a deep dive into the making of WoW and why those first few months felt so magical. I have played endless games before and since and still nothing has ever really replicated the feeling of awe I had when first flying into Ironforge on the back of a griffin 🥹)
(ps the book someone should actually write is a deep dive into the making of WoW and why those first few months felt so magical. I have played endless games before and since and still nothing has ever really replicated the feeling of awe I had when first flying into Ironforge on the back of a griffin 🥹)
October 10, 2024
Really wish this had more teeth. Schreier is as always an excellent writer and journalist, but while the content is often damning, the tone is not as harsh as it should be.
October 9, 2024
So... this is about what I expected it to be; if I am being honest. A look at a company, highlighting the good, the bad and the ugly. But also an honest view of how (like all businesses) go through changes through the decade's.
If I were to sum this up with no spoilers I'd say It's a look at how creatives start, businessmen destroy, and how morality is important. Overall a solid read. 4 Stars."
If I were to sum this up with no spoilers I'd say It's a look at how creatives start, businessmen destroy, and how morality is important. Overall a solid read. 4 Stars."
November 3, 2024
There’s no way you play video games and haven’t heard of Blizzard, the studio behind games such as World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch. Once unquestionably idolised, it’s a studio that has fallen from grace in recent years.
Play Nice is a retelling of Blizzard Entertainment’s founding moments, development, and rise to the top of the industry, but also a closer look at what has changed in recent years and why many fans have taken their development with a pinch of salt.
I’d read Jason Schreier’s shopping list. Honestly, if he were to write an entire book about the guy who changed light bulbs at Naughty Dog, I’d probably preorder it. With Blood, Sweat, and Pixels being my all-time favourite book about the video game industry, I felt excited about this release. And I don’t even care about Blizzard that much – while I have played some World of Warcraft Classic and am familiar with their other franchises, their games don’t spark the kind of excitement and nostalgia in me that they do in people who have been dedicated fans for years, if not decades.
It’s one of those success stories that is engaging to read. I love these kinds of stories – nerdy guys with big dreams (Steve Jobs, anyone?) who set out to change the world with enthusiasm and passion. The story of Blizzard neatly fills this mould, as it started out with three UCLA students who were all just obsessed with the same stuff. Schreier does an outstanding job at introducing the characters to us as well as telling their stories in a fashion that’s informative, precise, and still full of anecdotes and fun facts.
One of these fun facts, for example, was that Andy Weir, the man we all came to love for penning The Martian, worked for Blizzard as an engineer at one point but left after he was bullied and generally disregarded. Kind of crazy! Another one for you: there was a raid boss in WoW that could infect players with a contagious virus. Years later, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would “contact Blizzard for their data on how people behaved during the in-game pandemic – after all, World of Warcraft was a more useful case study than any mathematical model.”
The reasons for Blizzard’s downfall, if you will, are shockingly unsurprising, but no less tragic. I did enjoy reading about the rise more than about the fall, for obvious reasons! While the first half of the book is filled with excitement and growth, the second is a bit of a downer. Turns out money does ruin things! I’m not entirely sure how much you can spoil a non-fiction book, but I’m not going into too much detail on these points. The book dives into all the sexual misconduct allegations, mismanagement, and conflicts of interest that have been a topic in recent years.
It’s well-researched and well-told. One of the things I admire about Schreier’s writing so much is how thorough his research always seems. He is able to back everything up with quotes, creating a diverse and clear narrative that feels vivid and easy to follow. Clearly, he has spoken with hundreds of people who were willing to let him in on what happened behind the scenes. We also learn more about how a studio operates in general and how success will inevitably lead to the need to succeed more in this world we’re living in.
I think you will need to be either interested in video games in general or Blizzard specifically to really enjoy this book, but if either is your thing, this is a good book.
Play Nice is a retelling of Blizzard Entertainment’s founding moments, development, and rise to the top of the industry, but also a closer look at what has changed in recent years and why many fans have taken their development with a pinch of salt.
I’d read Jason Schreier’s shopping list. Honestly, if he were to write an entire book about the guy who changed light bulbs at Naughty Dog, I’d probably preorder it. With Blood, Sweat, and Pixels being my all-time favourite book about the video game industry, I felt excited about this release. And I don’t even care about Blizzard that much – while I have played some World of Warcraft Classic and am familiar with their other franchises, their games don’t spark the kind of excitement and nostalgia in me that they do in people who have been dedicated fans for years, if not decades.
It’s one of those success stories that is engaging to read. I love these kinds of stories – nerdy guys with big dreams (Steve Jobs, anyone?) who set out to change the world with enthusiasm and passion. The story of Blizzard neatly fills this mould, as it started out with three UCLA students who were all just obsessed with the same stuff. Schreier does an outstanding job at introducing the characters to us as well as telling their stories in a fashion that’s informative, precise, and still full of anecdotes and fun facts.
One of these fun facts, for example, was that Andy Weir, the man we all came to love for penning The Martian, worked for Blizzard as an engineer at one point but left after he was bullied and generally disregarded. Kind of crazy! Another one for you: there was a raid boss in WoW that could infect players with a contagious virus. Years later, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would “contact Blizzard for their data on how people behaved during the in-game pandemic – after all, World of Warcraft was a more useful case study than any mathematical model.”
The reasons for Blizzard’s downfall, if you will, are shockingly unsurprising, but no less tragic. I did enjoy reading about the rise more than about the fall, for obvious reasons! While the first half of the book is filled with excitement and growth, the second is a bit of a downer. Turns out money does ruin things! I’m not entirely sure how much you can spoil a non-fiction book, but I’m not going into too much detail on these points. The book dives into all the sexual misconduct allegations, mismanagement, and conflicts of interest that have been a topic in recent years.
It’s well-researched and well-told. One of the things I admire about Schreier’s writing so much is how thorough his research always seems. He is able to back everything up with quotes, creating a diverse and clear narrative that feels vivid and easy to follow. Clearly, he has spoken with hundreds of people who were willing to let him in on what happened behind the scenes. We also learn more about how a studio operates in general and how success will inevitably lead to the need to succeed more in this world we’re living in.
I think you will need to be either interested in video games in general or Blizzard specifically to really enjoy this book, but if either is your thing, this is a good book.
October 14, 2024
Schreier's best yet.
October 13, 2024
Fantastiskt intressant bok om en av mina favoritutvecklare. Fylld med bra stories och väldigt välresearchad. Sista delen som handlade om framtiden var ganska kort men också något mindre intressant än uppgången och fallet. I övrigt, kanon!
October 31, 2024
Fascinating, especially the earlier parts that overlap the most with my teen years being obsessed with Warcraft 1/2/3, Diablo 1/2 & Starcraft (and I wish the book would go deeper on those while not spending as much time on the later, corporate period, even though it's my bias and not a reasonable criticism). In later, sadder parts, the book becomes yet another cautionary tale about how corporate bullshit and hypergrowth pressure destroys even the best teams and ideals.
Overall a must read if you were ever a gamer.
Overall a must read if you were ever a gamer.
October 22, 2024
A brisk, fun read formed from massive amounts of firsthand research from a seasoned games journalist, the main failings of which are underplaying the company’s culture sexism by cordoning it off in a single chapter, and trying to make the “rise, fall, future” structure work when most of the falling really happens in part 3. 3.5 rounded up?
October 19, 2024
This would have been a 5 star read for me, but I feel like some things were missing, and overall felt like when toxicity/harassment was covered, it was very high level and didn’t examine close enough.
Overall a good book, learned a lot about the the very beginnings of Blizzard that I didn’t know, and found it interesting to read the push/pull of business vs creative that is always a tough balance to strike.
Overall a good book, learned a lot about the the very beginnings of Blizzard that I didn’t know, and found it interesting to read the push/pull of business vs creative that is always a tough balance to strike.
October 25, 2024
An interesting book for anyone interested in the video game industry but an even more riveting read as a long time fan of their games
November 9, 2024
Jason's best book yet in terms of writing and narrative, but as a former Blizzard fan I feel similarly to the other reviewers, that the depiction of the fall was a bit rushed and did not receive as much care as the first half of the book. I imagine it is difficult to get people to speak as candidly about things that haven't been great and that happened in recent memory, but the same level of detail all the way through would've made the book perfect.
November 4, 2024
This is how you write an ultimate story of a company. Well and incredibly widely researched and interesting even for people who only played Fifa on PlayStation 1. The only thing missing is a slightly bigger focus on the personalities - there are so many of them you give up on distinguishing between them after a while.
October 20, 2024
Yessss! I've never listened to an audiobook faster than this. I wasn't even aware of the book's existence until about a week before release. I read Jason Schreier's two other video game industry books and although I liked one a lot more than the other, both of them were the equivalent of audiobook candy. Just fun and easy, turn-off-the-brain kind of listening experiences (I've been a video game player for most of my life).
This book was an even better, geekier experience than the previous two. Mostly because Blizzard had been my favorite videogame company for probably 20+ years. Arguably they still are, but recent failings have disappointed me, as is outlined in the book. But the nostalgia is real, and getting a deep dive history of Blizzard from day 1 through the 90s heyday while they cranked out banger after banger took me right back to my teenage days playing each game for the first time. It got me so excited I actually installed Warcraft 2 and started playing it again this week. Then Warcraft 3 too, hah.
The parts about Activision merging with Blizzard and changing the culture slowly over time was infuriating to hear about, but I also grew to understand and respect that sometimes things just become bigger than you. Blizzard became too big for its own creativity, and the powers at be slowly began to have their say. It seems to be an unavoidable thing in business almost, especially with so much money at stake.
The book does an incredibly good job balancing fun nostalgia with grim realities, and does a nice job not painting Blizzard as evil. As negative as things got towards the back end of this book, I understood why things turned out the way they did better and in some ways, gained more hope about the future. I think there is some hope to be had with Microsoft owning Blizzard now with Bobby Kotick of Activision gone. Hopefully they can invest in bold, creative ideas, and not be afraid to be daring, instead of just sustaining decades-old games. Allen Adham said it nicely when he remarked about sustaining old games is good for the short run, but taking chances by investing time and energy into something new will be better for the long. That is yet to be seen, but at least the coffin isn't nailed shut as I thought it may have been.
Excellent reporting by Jason Schreier and some of the new information about canceled games and Easter egg info about early Blizzard ideas was tantalizing to read about. Did you know Andy Weir (The Martian) worked at Blizzard for a short minute?? Kerrigan was named as an opposite to Tanya in Red Alert (after Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, famous 90s ice skaters). Things like that had me actually laughing/remarking out loud on my runs as I listened to this fantastic book. I want more!!
This book was an even better, geekier experience than the previous two. Mostly because Blizzard had been my favorite videogame company for probably 20+ years. Arguably they still are, but recent failings have disappointed me, as is outlined in the book. But the nostalgia is real, and getting a deep dive history of Blizzard from day 1 through the 90s heyday while they cranked out banger after banger took me right back to my teenage days playing each game for the first time. It got me so excited I actually installed Warcraft 2 and started playing it again this week. Then Warcraft 3 too, hah.
The parts about Activision merging with Blizzard and changing the culture slowly over time was infuriating to hear about, but I also grew to understand and respect that sometimes things just become bigger than you. Blizzard became too big for its own creativity, and the powers at be slowly began to have their say. It seems to be an unavoidable thing in business almost, especially with so much money at stake.
The book does an incredibly good job balancing fun nostalgia with grim realities, and does a nice job not painting Blizzard as evil. As negative as things got towards the back end of this book, I understood why things turned out the way they did better and in some ways, gained more hope about the future. I think there is some hope to be had with Microsoft owning Blizzard now with Bobby Kotick of Activision gone. Hopefully they can invest in bold, creative ideas, and not be afraid to be daring, instead of just sustaining decades-old games. Allen Adham said it nicely when he remarked about sustaining old games is good for the short run, but taking chances by investing time and energy into something new will be better for the long. That is yet to be seen, but at least the coffin isn't nailed shut as I thought it may have been.
Excellent reporting by Jason Schreier and some of the new information about canceled games and Easter egg info about early Blizzard ideas was tantalizing to read about. Did you know Andy Weir (The Martian) worked at Blizzard for a short minute?? Kerrigan was named as an opposite to Tanya in Red Alert (after Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, famous 90s ice skaters). Things like that had me actually laughing/remarking out loud on my runs as I listened to this fantastic book. I want more!!
October 25, 2024
I started playing World of Warcraft when I was 12 (which I think was the first year it was out) and I have been a big fan of Blizzard for a long time, occasionally dabbling in Overwatch (which I am very bad at but enjoy) and Diablo (also bad at but enjoy). Though I only really decided to “break up” with Blizzard after recent allegations came out, it is clear that there has been a long history of poor decisions and employee disrespect. Therefore, I was eager to read this book.
Part 1 was a bit dry - I found it to be mostly focused on the business aspect of things and I zoned out a little with money and acquisition talk. I think Part 3 was the best as it focused the most on the human aspect and a little less on just bad business decisions. I really felt for the employees who wanted to hang on to the company they once loved and make games they cared about but just couldn’t bear such a horrendous employer.
I listened to this in the background while working, cleaning, falling asleep etc. so I probably can’t give the most polished review, but as a simple gamer curious about the fall of a company I once idolized (I know, probably don’t idolize corporations) my opinion is it’s a three star read. A little dry, but it had enough fascinating moments that I read the whole thing.
Part 1 was a bit dry - I found it to be mostly focused on the business aspect of things and I zoned out a little with money and acquisition talk. I think Part 3 was the best as it focused the most on the human aspect and a little less on just bad business decisions. I really felt for the employees who wanted to hang on to the company they once loved and make games they cared about but just couldn’t bear such a horrendous employer.
I listened to this in the background while working, cleaning, falling asleep etc. so I probably can’t give the most polished review, but as a simple gamer curious about the fall of a company I once idolized (I know, probably don’t idolize corporations) my opinion is it’s a three star read. A little dry, but it had enough fascinating moments that I read the whole thing.
October 20, 2024
Jason ima baš sjajan stil pisanja i naraciju za tip knjiga koji piše. Jako mi je drago što to piše kroz priče ljudi koji su sastavni dio svakog projekta video igri. U ovoj je sjajno pokazao različite ere jedne kompanije, koliko drugačije paradigme imaju utjecaje na sve ljude u sklopu kolektiva. Jako mi je teško kazati koliko je to lako za pratiti nekome tko nije u video igrama, rekao bih da je. Jer puno je lakše kada ti je sve poznato i kada znaš mnoge te priče od prije.
Volio bih da je malo dublje ušao u problematike koje su prisutne oko kompanije zadnjih par godina, ali razumijem zašto toga nema – dovoljno svježe pa ljudi još nisu spremni govoriti o tome. Kao što nema ni nekih natuknica za budućnost, recimo na čemu kompanija radi, makar kroz jednu rečenicu gdje navodi kodna imena.
Ne bih se bunio vidjeti nastavak knjige za jedno 15-20 godina.
Volio bih da je malo dublje ušao u problematike koje su prisutne oko kompanije zadnjih par godina, ali razumijem zašto toga nema – dovoljno svježe pa ljudi još nisu spremni govoriti o tome. Kao što nema ni nekih natuknica za budućnost, recimo na čemu kompanija radi, makar kroz jednu rečenicu gdje navodi kodna imena.
Ne bih se bunio vidjeti nastavak knjige za jedno 15-20 godina.
November 5, 2024
Jag är osäker på hur jag ska förhålla mig till den här boken. Jason Schreier presenterar en fascinerande berättelse om Blizzards uppgång och fall, men tyvärr känns det som om den bara skrapar på ytan av något större. Ofta får jag känslan av "Wow, det här vill jag veta mer om", men då drar Jason undan mattan och hoppar vidare till nästa tidsepok. Resultatet blir att boken känns väldigt onyanserad. Vi förstår att investerarna är de "onda" och tjänar enorma summor på andras bekostnad, men det hade varit intressant att få höra från andra perspektiv också.
Jason gör som många av dagens speljournalister och fokuserar mer på att belysa problemen än att fördjupa sig i dem. Det känns ibland slarvigt och lite för ytligt i vissa delar, med en del upprepningar.
Sammantaget är det en bra och intressant bok, men jag kan inte skaka av mig känslan av att "det här kunde jag ha googlat fram på fem minuter," vilket tyvärr drar ner betyget.
Jason gör som många av dagens speljournalister och fokuserar mer på att belysa problemen än att fördjupa sig i dem. Det känns ibland slarvigt och lite för ytligt i vissa delar, med en del upprepningar.
Sammantaget är det en bra och intressant bok, men jag kan inte skaka av mig känslan av att "det här kunde jag ha googlat fram på fem minuter," vilket tyvärr drar ner betyget.
August 31, 2024
Grand Central Publishing provided an early galley for review.
As a former software developer and a life-long videogame player, this new release caught my attention. And I've played a Blizzard game or two in my time.
There is a lot of history in these pages, both from the people and products that came out of the Blizzard company as well as references to other software developers and games. It will, therefore, appeal a lot more strongly to those who are familiar with and/or interested in the topic. Schreier moves through thirty-three years of videogame history at a fairly solid pace, hitting the highlights (and lowlights) as well as sprinkling in the important notes and recollections of people who were involved.
Having worked for a large computer company early in my career (IBM), I could very much relate to Blizzard's cycle of growth, faltering and reorganization. It was also interesting to see how Blizzard struggled when it came to the role (or lack thereof) of women in the company, and it was appalling to read about the amount of harassment female staff members had to endure within that corporate culture.
As a former software developer and a life-long videogame player, this new release caught my attention. And I've played a Blizzard game or two in my time.
There is a lot of history in these pages, both from the people and products that came out of the Blizzard company as well as references to other software developers and games. It will, therefore, appeal a lot more strongly to those who are familiar with and/or interested in the topic. Schreier moves through thirty-three years of videogame history at a fairly solid pace, hitting the highlights (and lowlights) as well as sprinkling in the important notes and recollections of people who were involved.
Having worked for a large computer company early in my career (IBM), I could very much relate to Blizzard's cycle of growth, faltering and reorganization. It was also interesting to see how Blizzard struggled when it came to the role (or lack thereof) of women in the company, and it was appalling to read about the amount of harassment female staff members had to endure within that corporate culture.
November 13, 2024
The gaming industry is something that I am not remotely tuned into. The only game I play is Mario Kart. This book is all about Blizzard, a gaming company from California. They make popular games like Diablo and Overwatch, two games that keep my boyfriend up until 3:00am on weekends.
Even though I know nothing about this topic or company, their story was intriguing. I was very invested. I had heard some of the stories from my boyfriend over the past 6 years.
It was fun talking to him about the people, games, and controversies. I think he really appreciated my interest. Will I read more about the gaming industry? Absolutely not, but this was a good start and finish.
Even though I know nothing about this topic or company, their story was intriguing. I was very invested. I had heard some of the stories from my boyfriend over the past 6 years.
It was fun talking to him about the people, games, and controversies. I think he really appreciated my interest. Will I read more about the gaming industry? Absolutely not, but this was a good start and finish.
November 14, 2024
My firsy Schreier book and I loved it!! It's extra fun as my partner is reading it to as he used to work in the games industry and has met some of the guys mentioned. It's a bit different that we get to read it together and share what we think of it.
The stories are wild but it's no less than what you'd expect in an industry that was probs only second Wall Street and Film in terms revenue and ratio of men to women (99.9 : 0.1) and everything that goes along with it.
It's an age old story of 'how do you manufacture creativity and monetize it' but also dealing with the very human elements that go along with that. Schreier doesn't shy away from the postive and negatives of the organization and it's honestly super super easy to read!!
Absolutely recommend if you're interested in games OR in how creative orgs work.
The stories are wild but it's no less than what you'd expect in an industry that was probs only second Wall Street and Film in terms revenue and ratio of men to women (99.9 : 0.1) and everything that goes along with it.
It's an age old story of 'how do you manufacture creativity and monetize it' but also dealing with the very human elements that go along with that. Schreier doesn't shy away from the postive and negatives of the organization and it's honestly super super easy to read!!
Absolutely recommend if you're interested in games OR in how creative orgs work.
October 27, 2024
Super intriguing book about the rise and fall of blizzard. As someone who was super into overwatch, and therefore extremely disappointed by blizzard, this was something I really wanted to learn about. I just wish the author hadn’t jumped around so much in the timeline, and I wish he had dedicated more space in the story to the sex discrimination section. I understand that many other journalists have gone into more depth with that story, but it seemed like a this book should have been the place to talk about it in depth too.
TLDR: read if you like me are a disappointed blizzfan
TLDR: read if you like me are a disappointed blizzfan
October 17, 2024
Schreier with another banger. I don't have much connection to Blizzard other than overwatch and I still had a great time reading it. Some pretty crazy stories in here along with some cool insight into game development at one of the most iconic game studios. If you enjoy video games or business journeys def give this a read.
October 21, 2024
Interesting. The book really focuses on their unique game development strategies that their amazing successes let them continue, but as the novel unwinds, the successes become fewer and farther between and it really becomes a business book at that point, shifting the blame and getting more held to the fire of their failing prototypes.
October 30, 2024
It was a fantastic look at my favorite gaming company's history.
November 5, 2024
Jason Schreier books are always entertaining. Very fun read to start, but expected more messiness in the end.
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