Nick, Rei, Eric, and Kurabara are back with a surprise episode to talk about the release of Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier which releases today! The gang was lucky enough to receive an advance copy and having read the book we are able to share our thoughts.

First, we talk about whether we enjoyed the book and enjoyed the Rise, Fall, Future format. Nick mentions that the rise and fall portions of the book feel like different books, as the stories change from one of an up-and-coming company to a series of corporate battels. The last part of the book is also tough to read as the stories Schreir is telling are from the last half decade when Blizzard has been in turmoil, and as it becomes evident which story he is setting up, the anticipation of knowing what he’s about to discuss can be discomfiting. Nick also comments that the last chapter stands out since it addresses the layoffs from January.

We talk about how Schreier’s writing style which works for telling these narratives, although Nick and Rei were pressed to try to fit everything into chronological order.

Rei also talks about her experiences working for Gamestop and Activision and how they compare with the experiences under Activision’s bad management.

We also talk about some of the more interesting anecdotes, like how Brian Birmingham quit because of the implementation of stack ranking. They talk about Ben Brode’s path to joining Blizzard. And Nick mentions his disdain for Armin Zerza.

Play Nice is now available at bookstores everywhere.

Thank you for listening to WoW! Talk! Our next live show is scheduled for October 21st 2024 at 10:30 pm E at twitch.tv/mashthosebuttons. For any scheduling updates, please follow us on X @wowtalkmtb. Send any emails about your thoughts or feedback to [email protected].

Episode URL: mtb.gg/3k6

Hosts:

Nick Zielenkievicz
twitter.com/WookieeBH

Rei Liou

Eric Knutson

Cory Treadway
twitter.com/kurabaras

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