Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment
- Downloads：9565
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2024-10-05 02:20:25
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jason Schreier
- ISBN：B0CV46H5XL
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
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 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。
Reviews
Justis
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I received an ARC from Grand Central Publishing for review。 Play Nice tells a comprehensive history of Blizzard Entertainment， from its three-man founding to after the closing of the Microsoft acquisition in 2024。 Jason Schreier draws on a massive amount of resources to build a very thorough vision of the company and the people working inside of it。Schreier contrasts the larger-than-life stories of Blizzard's founding and key figures with the grounded experiences of everyday employees。 He reveal I received an ARC from Grand Central Publishing for review。 Play Nice tells a comprehensive history of Blizzard Entertainment， from its three-man founding to after the closing of the Microsoft acquisition in 2024。 Jason Schreier draws on a massive amount of resources to build a very thorough vision of the company and the people working inside of it。Schreier contrasts the larger-than-life stories of Blizzard's founding and key figures with the grounded experiences of everyday employees。 He reveals their struggles to create great games within a hostile corporate culture often found in large video game development studios。 Schreier highlights the human cost of decisions made by leaders like Bobby Kotick， who is memorably introduced。 Jason does this through grounded interviews with developers， HR personnel， QA staff， and others impacted by crunch， inadequate protective policies， and complex compensation models。 These interviews， spanning multiple tiers of employees within the studio， provide a solid understanding of how Blizzard became the company it is today。Jason has a great voice for guiding you along thirty years of hectic video game development history。 This is a must read for any fan of Blizzard games， video games in general， and great reporting。 I wish Schreier could do this for every major studio。 。。。more
Vovka
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This is a well-researched， meticulously reported story that will likely come to serve as the authoritative history on Blizzard Entertainment's founding， rise， and fall。 The headline and the content line up perfectly。 This is an admirable book and likely the best that Blizzard will ever have written about it。Critics of this book will likely come in two varieties: type 1: women at Blizzard who were subject to a hostile work environment will likely find the book too gentle and forgiving to Blizzard This is a well-researched， meticulously reported story that will likely come to serve as the authoritative history on Blizzard Entertainment's founding， rise， and fall。 The headline and the content line up perfectly。 This is an admirable book and likely the best that Blizzard will ever have written about it。Critics of this book will likely come in two varieties: type 1: women at Blizzard who were subject to a hostile work environment will likely find the book too gentle and forgiving to Blizzard and its executive team; type 2: fans of Michael Lewis， the master of nonfiction storytelling， will find that -- despite having a solid narrative structure of founding， rise， and fall -- there's not a clear "story" here and that a lot of the detail feels unmoored from any narrative structure。 I count myself in the second category -- there are five-star business tales and this isn't one of them。 But that doesn't mean it's not a great read！ I really enjoyed reading about the company that made the games that absorbed so much of my time in college and after college。 I deeply respect the journalistic effort that went into managing all of the sources and interviews。 The author's commitment to quality is apparent on every page。（Note: I did receive an advance copy of the book for free so that I might be one of its earliest reviewers。 Because I live in California， 95% of my books are free from the public library system， so I'm fairly certain getting this one free didn't influence my rating positively。） 。。。more
Martin Maenza
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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。 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。 。。。more
Rach
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