Play Nice cover art

Play Nice

The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Play Nice

By: Jason Schreier
Narrated by: Ray Chase
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

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.

©2024 Jason Schreier (P)2024 Grand Central Publishing
Programming Programming & Software Development Software Development Video Game

Listeners also enjoyed...

Press Reset cover art
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels cover art
Up Down Up cover art
Doom Guy cover art
Control Freak cover art
Masters of Doom cover art
Think Like a Game Designer: The Step-by-Step Guide to Unlocking Your Creative Potential cover art
Disrupting the Game cover art
The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 1 cover art
Once upon Atari cover art
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution cover art
Blood, Sweat & Chrome cover art
Video Game Storytelling cover art
Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings cover art
Replay cover art
Prepare to Meet Thy Doom cover art

Critic reviews

“Here’s a thrilling adventure story from the untamed, online wilderness of modern capitalism. Think Barbarians at the Gate, but with digital dragons and blood-thirsty trolls. Gaming is now a more powerful and influential business than Hollywood, and Jason Schreier has delivered a masterful narrative that shows how the industry really works.”—Christopher Leonard, New York Times bestselling author of Kochland and The Lords of Easy Money
“A fast paced thrill ride, perfect for anyone who has ever played a video game. Jason Schreier’s comprehensive history of Blizzard Entertainment offers a completely enthralling look at the company’s founding and the bitter battle for its future. A must read!”—Ben Mezrich, New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires, Dumb Money, and The Midnight Ride.

"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

"Jason Schreier's PLAY NICE is a gripping narrative not just of a single influential company but the evolution of the entire video game industry, changing from a niche pursuit to one of the largest cultural products in the world. This is vital reading for anyone hoping to understand the state of entertainment in the 21st century. Video games are an unavoidable force; PLAY NICE breaks down the genre as well as the personalities behind it."—Kyle Chayka, author Filterworld
"Play Nice is the ultimate insider account of the creation of some of the most beloved games ever, and a colorful portrait of the computer-game gold rush. Who knew that behind the scenes of Warcraft and Overwatch was a story of power plays, betrayals, and quests for glory as epic as the games themselves?"—Zeke Faux, author of Number Go Up
All stars
Most relevant  
I really liked the book. Very interesting and a massive digging Done by the author.

The detail and research are very impressive!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A well structured ‘biography’ of Blizzard from inception until today - filled with clearly well researched interview quotes and a balanced (if a tad unsubtle) critique of the game industry culture

A balanced and interesting look into Blizzard

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Not as exciting as "Blood, sweat and pixels", probably mostly because it focuses on just one company, but as a game developer I think it addresses some of the game industry's issues better than "Press reset", because, unlike that previous book, it doesn't sound like something written by an American who's unaware that most of those issues are just a US thing and are already solved in more developed countries.

Worth reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Schreier does it again. As a long time gamer his books have always been appealing. This latest book provided a fascinating deep dive into the ups and downs of one of the biggest and most successful titans of the industry. Strongly recommend to anyone with an interest in Activision, Blizzard or video games in general.

Play Nice

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The book throughout is really interesting, I really enjoyed learning the history of Blizzard and how it turned from a company with the best intentions into the money hungry behemoth we know today. The end just seemed very sudden and abrupt, there really is not much talk at all about the future of Blizzard. The voice used is a bit meh.

Really interesting, but abrupt end

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

amazing behind the scenes of the rise and fall great book byu him as always

amazing behind the scenes of the rise and fall

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It’s amazing how much detail he can fit in 9 hours, it is also perfect and he points out and even is able to make a whole chapter about things I haven’t even hear about

5 out of 5 stars no drama

I love these books and love the author

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Amazingly compelling writing that chronicles a game's company's many, many stories. Well worth a listen, even if you aren't a big fan of Blizzard

Compelling look into an industry giant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Not really a bit thing but the book ends quite suddenly in my opinion thats all.

The amount of people who were spoken to in order to write this book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A story about everything blizzard.
For the listener it is not clear what the writer thinks. Therefor it seems neutral which I like.

The story about my beloved game studio hurt me but hopefully it will rise again!

Very informative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews