Jason Schreier on Unearthing the Secrets of Blizzard's Long History in His Eye-Opening New Book

ign.com:

If various news events in recent years have ever caused you to wonder, “What the heck has been going on at Blizzard Entertainment?” Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier’s new book has an answer for you.

Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment is Schreier’s third book on the games industry, following Blood, Sweat, and Pixels (2017) and Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry (2021). While both of Schreier’s previous books canvas multiple studios along a particular theme, Play Nice turns a focused lens on one of the most interesting and tumultuous studios in video games.

Play Nice covers three decades of Blizzard history, bookended by the foundation of the company by Allen Adham and Mike Morhaime in 1991 and Adham’s most recent departure from the company at the start of this year. To tell the story, Schreier has interviewed over 300 current and former employees about their memories and experiences with Blizzard. The story canvases the company’s rash of hits: Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone, as well as a number of canceled or otherwise less successful projects. It examines the ups and downs of the company itself as it passed between corporate owners, the internal culture that resulted in both deep company loyalty, and one of the most prominent work culture lawsuits in video game history.

Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment is out on October 8, 2024. Ahead of its release, I was able to read through the entirety of an advanced copy of the book before speaking to Schreier at length about its contents, his work on it, and some of the insights readers can expect to glean from such a close look at Blizzard’s history. Our conversation is published in full below, lightly edited for clarity.

So why Blizzard? What was most interesting about this specific company that warranted a book like this?

Jason Schreier: I think the idea first started formulating around 2018, when