Play Nice
The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment
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4.4 • 47 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND AN NPR BEST BOOK OF 2024
From a New York Times bestselling author and investigative journalist comes The Social Network for the video game industry, a riveting examination of Blizzard Entertainment's rise and shocking downfall.
For video game fans, the name Blizzard Entertainment was once synonymous with perfection. The renowned company behind classics like Diablo and World of Warcraft was known to celebrate the joy of gaming over all else. 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. Activision began invading Blizzard from the inside. Glitchy products, PR disasters, mass layoffs, and a staggering lawsuit marred the company's reputation and led to its ultimate reckoning.
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, showing us what it really means to "bleed Blizzard blue." Full of colorful personalities and dramatic twists, this is the story of what happens when the ruthless pursuit of profit meets artistic idealism.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This damning report from Bloomberg News journalist Schreier (Press Reset) details how Blizzard Entertainment, the video game hitmaker behind the World of Warcraft and Diablo franchises, lost its way. Schreier traces the studio's history from its founding in 1991 by two UCLA grads and its raucous early days (screaming and fistfights were common occurrences around the office) to its maturation into an industry star and its fateful 2008 acquisition by competitor Activision. With an ear for pithy soundbites ("When millions turn into billions, everything changes"), Schreier draws on interviews with game testers, programmers, executives, and other Blizzard personnel to create a vivid portrait of the company's decline under Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, whose prioritizing of profits over quality resulted in demoralizing mass layoffs and curtailing creative risks in favor of milking established franchises. Schreier makes clear that not all of Blizzard's problems stemmed from Kotick; a 2021 lawsuit brought by the state of California alleged that since the company's early days, the few women who worked there contended with unequal pay, sexual harassment, and an HR department unwilling to discipline perpetrators of misconduct. Animated by thorough reporting, this deep dive into the gaming industry's dark side unsettles.
Customer Reviews
A must-read for every gamer.
If you have any thoughts or concerns about the future of the gaming industry, read this book.
Fantastic Read Highly Recommend
An amazing book with such a deep and thoughtful insight into Blizzard and the highs and lows of the company and video game industry as a whole.
Meh
Interesting story but very flatly told. Coulda/shoulda been much better given the ridiculous growth of the industry over Blizzard’s lifespan.