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 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. Led by executives from McKinsey and Procter & Gamble Activision began invading
Blizzard from the inside. Glitchy products PR disasters and mass layoffs followed marring
the company’s once pristine image. Then in 2021 a staggering sexual misconduct and
discrimination lawsuit against the company triggered a widespread reckoning and a shocking $69
billion acquisition. 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. From previously unrevealed stories of Blizzard’s
early culture including fist fights and a hotel ban to the full story of Titan Blizzard’s
most high-profile canceled project and the behind-the-scenes saga of how Blizzard executives
battled their Activision overlords tooth and nail this book 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.
