Jason Schreier

So I would say the longer ago you were at Blizzard, the more likely you were to talk on the record. Whereas the people who were here, were at the company more recently, were more likely to talk. anonymously and on background and just kind of like they didn't want their names in the book. Sure. Which makes sense. Wounds are more recent and whatnot.

But no, I mean, I found that a lot of people wanted to tell their stories actually. For a few reasons, I think.

But no, I mean, I found that a lot of people wanted to tell their stories actually. For a few reasons, I think.

One is that I think that when you reach out to people individually through the back door, as I mentioned before, as opposed to through the front door, when you go through the front door, there's a doorman in the way, and that's PR, and it's up to them whether they even want to take your request to the people who are inside.

One is that I think that when you reach out to people individually through the back door, as I mentioned before, as opposed to through the front door, when you go through the front door, there's a doorman in the way, and that's PR, and it's up to them whether they even want to take your request to the people who are inside.

Whereas if you go through the back door and you're talking to people individually, they may be like, oh, well, I've never actually been asked to tell my story. Sure, I'll get on the phone with you and tell my story. So that's part of it. Another part of it is that I think a lot of people recognize that this was trying to be a really thorough piece of history about Blizzard.

Whereas if you go through the back door and you're talking to people individually, they may be like, oh, well, I've never actually been asked to tell my story. Sure, I'll get on the phone with you and tell my story. So that's part of it. Another part of it is that I think a lot of people recognize that this was trying to be a really thorough piece of history about Blizzard.

And I was trying to do it in as fair and accurate as possible. And so people wanted to make sure that they were able to contribute to that history and make sure their perspectives were in there in some way or another. Um, so that was part of it too.

And I was trying to do it in as fair and accurate as possible. And so people wanted to make sure that they were able to contribute to that history and make sure their perspectives were in there in some way or another. Um, so that was part of it too.

Um, but yeah, I mean me granting people anonymity when they wanted, um, especially for fact checking purposes, like some people would only agree to just participate in fact checking and, uh, uh, would, would let me run things by them to, and they would tell me, uh, if they felt like something was wrong and inaccurate. Um, yeah. So, yeah, it was a complicated process.

Um, but yeah, I mean me granting people anonymity when they wanted, um, especially for fact checking purposes, like some people would only agree to just participate in fact checking and, uh, uh, would, would let me run things by them to, and they would tell me, uh, if they felt like something was wrong and inaccurate. Um, yeah. So, yeah, it was a complicated process.

With some people, it took a lot of asking, a lot of pestering. But yeah, I mean, I found that in general, a lot of people were willing to talk. And like I mentioned earlier, I mean, I got like some 300 Blizzard people to wind up talking for the book.

With some people, it took a lot of asking, a lot of pestering. But yeah, I mean, I found that in general, a lot of people were willing to talk. And like I mentioned earlier, I mean, I got like some 300 Blizzard people to wind up talking for the book.

Um, it was a fun process. The, the organization of it all was, yeah, it was, uh, it was a beast.

Um, it was a fun process. The, the organization of it all was, yeah, it was, uh, it was a beast.

I mean, it depends on what your idea of what quote-unquote Blizzard, like old good Blizzard is. Because to me, Blizzard changed so much after World of Warcraft that it essentially became a different company then. Before World of Warcraft, it was releasing a new game every couple of years. And then it became a...

I mean, it depends on what your idea of what quote-unquote Blizzard, like old good Blizzard is. Because to me, Blizzard changed so much after World of Warcraft that it essentially became a different company then. Before World of Warcraft, it was releasing a new game every couple of years. And then it became a...

live service company where like and it wasn't just releasing games it was releasing games and then updating them forever and if you look at Blizzard now they're a company that is working on WoW working on Diablo 4 working on Overwatch 2 working on Hearthstone Um, and those four games are all forever games.

live service company where like and it wasn't just releasing games it was releasing games and then updating them forever and if you look at Blizzard now they're a company that is working on WoW working on Diablo 4 working on Overwatch 2 working on Hearthstone Um, and those four games are all forever games.

Those are games that just have teams dedicated to creating new content for them that aren't working on other stuff that aren't working on totally new games. And there are teams that Blizzard that are working on new stuff too, but still the company is, uh, uh, is a live service company at this point. Um, and I'll give you an example of that. The team that made Hearthstone, um,