Behind the scenes at Blizzard: Jason Schreier talks misconduct, swingers parties and what press got wrong
Few video game companies hold such a personal connection to fans as Blizzard. Now, imagine how deep that connection runs if you worked there. For the many thousands of staff who sweated to build World of Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, Hearthstone and Overwatch, this company was their dream job, their social network, their life. And this is why change at the company – the slow creep of corporate influence and then the sudden rush of horrifying harassment stories – over the past few years has felt so impactful.
It’s a narrative that Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier details well in his latest book, Play Nice, which launches today in the UK and North America. Through interviews with hundreds of Blizzard staff past and present, the book charts the company’s entire history, right up to the layoffs faced by staff this year following Xbox’s record-breaking buyout.
Ahead of its publication, I sat down for a chat with Schreier to discuss how the book handles some of its most difficult topics, whether some of the changes have helped Blizzard’s staff in the long run, and much more.
This is a great read – the drama certainly builds as it goes along, through the introduction to Bobby Kotick, to the lawsuits, to today. Were you ever tempted to focus just on Blizzard’s recent history, rather than tell the full 33-year story?
