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.
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Investigative reporting on the internal operations, labor practices, and development turmoil of the video game industry has shed light on how modern interactive media is created. Journalist Jason Schreier established a prominent voice in tech and entertainment reporting through detailed behind-the-scenes accounts of major studio projects, including his landmark non-fiction book Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made.
By documenting the human cost behind blockbuster entertainment, his work examines crunch culture, sudden studio closures, and executive decision-making across major publishing houses. His investigative books offer readers unprecedented access to developer testimonies, structural industry cycles, and the creation histories of world-renowned gaming franchises.
Born on May 10, 1987, Schreier graduated from New York University before beginning his professional reporting career around 2010. From 2011 to 2020, he served as a news reporter for Kotaku, where he built a reputation for breaking investigative stories regarding game delays, workplace culture issues, and mandatory overtime practices known within the industry as crunch.
In April 2020, Schreier joined Bloomberg News as part of its technology reporting team, where he continues to cover major developments, corporate changes, and labor conditions across the global video game sector. In addition to his reporting and book releases, he co-hosts the Triple Click podcast and lives in Westchester, New York.
Schreier's investigative style relies on primary interviews with game developers, studio leaders, and industry workers to reconstruct the complex development cycles of software production. Rather than focusing on consumer reviews or corporate announcements, his narrative approach highlights management strategy, economic volatility, project delays, and developer burnout.
A central theme throughout his work is the tension between creative artistic ambition and business management. His books document how changing corporate priorities, technological shifts, and tight deadlines shape the final product, providing readers with clear context regarding why high-profile projects succeed, shift focus, or face cancellation.
