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Play Nice
- The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
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Publisher's Summary
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.
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What the critics say
"Jason Schreier's Play Nice is a riveting chronicle of one of gaming's most iconic companies. With gripping detail and unmatched access, Schreier pulls back the curtain on Blizzard Entertainment's meteoric rise, turbulent history, and struggle to balance uncompromising creativity with corporate America's unyielding pursuit of profit. Play Nice is a must-read exposé of the passion, ambition and dysfunction behind some of the most beloved games of all time."—Bradley Hope, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Billion Dollar Whale
What listeners say about Play Nice
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Nick DeCastro
- 2024-10-19
Interesting Indeed!
Even if you have been following Blizzard news for years, this book still has some behind-the-scenes insights into what made Blizzard great and what made it horrible at times. "Stack Ranking" where managers were forced to rank their team from best to worst which caused favouritism and unwarranted competitiveness inside of teams has to be one of the worst business practices I've ever heard of. There are many lessons here about what to do and not do while running not only a video game company but any creative company.
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- Klaus Kazlauskas
- 2024-11-07
Outstanding
Jason Schreier does it again. Another great collection of stories shinning the light in one of the biggest companies in the gaming industry.
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- chris
- 2024-11-09
organized history of Blizzard
it's wild to see just how long many of the now infamous problems at Blizzard had actually been metastasizing unseen by the public for years (sometimes decades). An excellent guided tour through the history of a once beloved company.
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- Anonymous User
- 2024-10-11
womderful insight
this was a wonderful insight to the industry that we never get to see. All the good and bad not just the bad things that people focus on these days but all the good that came out of it. And just shows that yes there is coroperate evil inside but also generally good people that are affected daily by everything that happens inside a studio
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- Amazon Customer
- 2024-10-09
Page Turner!
Listened to the whole thing in a day. Tons of interesting stories and insight into Blizzard. Especially fun for those in-tune with the company over the years.
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