Play Nice - Jason Schreier

(slimey fricken Bobby Kotick)

⭐9/10

This book is subtitled "The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment." Blizzard is a video game company. I don't even play any of their games, but the reason I decided to buy this book is because they were kinda the founding fathers of big budget games in a way (World of Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone), and also I love the author. I actually didn't realize just how big they were because they haven't really been in the news much in the last 10 years, aside from mostly scandals and bad news. But man, I would say 1995-2015 belonged to this company. 

I loved this book in a way I didn't think I would. I said this about Schreier's other book, but one lesson I take away from these is just how hard it is to make something truly special. It takes work, it takes sacrifice, and it usually takes some unsavory personalities to drive bold creative decisions. And they made nothing but special things! For two decades they essentially couldn't miss. The most popular, revered games, one after the other, all pretty distinct and yet stamped with the Blizzard brand of quality. These are MMOs, shooters, strategy games, deck builders. Each one blew up in a way that a company can only dream of, and they did this routinely. 

I think this makes it even more tragic how it all fell apart. They are eventually bought out by soulless corporate suits who don't see art but only dollar signs. This is one of the clearest examples of greed being the death of art: a complete lack of respect and understanding of the creative process. Short sighted decisions destroying years of good will with customers. It's a fascinating story and one where you want to reach into the pages to wring some necks.

But as for the book itself, I think Jason is a super effective storyteller and definitely the best journalist alive when it comes to covering games. I've long been a fan of his, and he's smart and knowledgeable and clearly put in a ton of work to get so many details. 

Blizzard was not a team of good guys. They were petulant and misogynistic and the people on top exploited the people on the bottom. So maybe it's good they were ruined by corporations. But now they are kinda just a shell of their former selves, just chasing after nostalgia and the good old days. It's an interesting, complicated story that made me think a lot. I love books like this, and I think the creation of video games make for the most intriguing stories. Good stuff.