Journalist and author of Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment Jason Schreier sits for an interview on Blizzard’s many transformations, diversity scores, and what ultimately happened to Starcraft Ghost and Project Titan. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Jason Schreier. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

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1: Was there something about Blizzard in particular that made you want to write a book? (03:21)

• Acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft
• Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry
• WarCraft series
• StarCraft series
• Diablo series

2: Did you actually interview more than three hundred people for this book over three years? (06:19)

• EverQuest
• Leeroy Jenkins

3: Was there anyone you couldn’t get an interview with? (07:45)

4: What was your personal investment in Blizzard before writing this book? (08:22)

• WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos
• StarCraft: Brood War
• The Lost Vikings
• Norse by Norse West: The Return of the Lost Vikings
• World of WarCraft

5: How would you describe Blizzard’s brand identity? (11:03)

• Pixar
• Make Love, Not Warcraft
• Overwatch series
• Hearthstone: Heroes of WarCraft

6: When did the “mergers and acquisitions” era of the video game industry really begin? (12:31)

• Davidson & Associates
• Math Blaster!
• CUC International
• Sierra Entertainment