Jason Schreier

NATIONAL BESTSELLER “The stories in this book make for a fascinating and remarkably complete pantheon of just about every common despair and every joy related to game development.” — Rami Ismail, cofounder of Vlambeer and developer of Nuclear Throne Developing video games—hero's journey or fool's errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building today's hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it's nothing short of miraculous. Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether it's RPG studio Bioware's challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone's single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man's vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart. Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.

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.

From the bestselling author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels comes the next definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the video game how some of the past decade's most renowned studios fell apart—and the stories, both triumphant and tragic, of what happened next.Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it.The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games—Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more—on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, Press Reset tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely.Schreier's insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it's become so hard to make a stable living making video games—and whether the business of making games can change before it's too late.

Międzynarodowy bestseller! Jak powstają znane gry – Wiedźmin, Dragon Age, Stardew Valley, Destiny, Diablo? Tworzenie gier komputerowych w dzisiejszych czasach jest często bardziej fascynujące niż efekt końcowy. Jason Schreier zabiera czytelników w niezwykłą podróż za kulisy przemysłu gier wideo, gdzie twórcą może być zespół 600 przepracowanych geeków lub jeden geniusz. Opisując artystyczne wyzwania stojące przed producentami, techniczne bariery, żądania graczy i pracę przypominającą robotę w korporacji, autor dochodzi do wniosku, że każda z gier jest swoistym cudem. To podróż do istnego piekła, jakim jest świat twórców gier, a jednocześnie hołd dla wszystkich tych, którzy próbują sprostać niebotycznym oczekiwaniom otoczenia i stworzyć najlepszą grę, jaką tylko można sobie wyobrazić. Długość:9 godzin 54 minuty

El desarrollo de videojuegos: ¿un periplo heroico o una misión imposible? La logística creativa y técnica que conlleva crear los juegos más populares de hoy puede ser más angustiosa y compleja que el juego en sí. En sangre, sudor y píxeles, Jason schreier guía al lector por una fascinante odisea tras las bambalinas del desarrollo de videojuegos. En una exploración de los desafíos artísticos, las imposibilidades técnicas y las demandas del mercado, sangre, sudor y píxeles des ve la que terminar un videojuego es algo más que una tarea hercúlea: es nada menos que un milagro. Partiendo de algunos de los juegos más populares y vendidos, schreier sumerge al lector en el suplicio que es el proceso de desarrollo, como las dificultades del estudio de juegos de rol BioWare para cumplir unos plazos imposibles y superar un sinfín de pesadillas técnicas en la creación de Dragon age: Inquisition; el empeño del desarrollador independiente Eric barone para crear el juego de rol rural Stardew Valley; o la separación entre bungie y sus jefes corporativos de Microsoft para crear destiny, un universo nuevo que esperaban que ganar a tanta fama como la guerra de las galaxias, pese a que casi acaba con el estudio. Sangre, sudor y píxeles es un recorrido por el inferno del desarrollo y, en definitiva, un homenaje a los tenaces devotos y héroes anónimos que trepan por montañas de obstáculos en su afán por crear los mejores juegos que cabe imaginar.