Jason Schreier

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,

When they published that in 2014, it was a very small team. It was a team of like 15 people. The game almost got canceled several times, as documented in the book. And when the team released the game, there were a couple of people on it who were pretty disappointed that after that, they would then go on to, rather than going and working on something totally new... keep working on Hearthstone.

When they published that in 2014, it was a very small team. It was a team of like 15 people. The game almost got canceled several times, as documented in the book. And when the team released the game, there were a couple of people on it who were pretty disappointed that after that, they would then go on to, rather than going and working on something totally new... keep working on Hearthstone.

And there were some people who felt like, hey, we're this small, talented incubation team. We captured lightning in a bottle. Can't you let us go and do that again? But no, it wasn't to be because Hearthstone came out and then Hearthstone became enormous and it needed to be updated. It needed new cards and expansions and content. And bug fixes. So it wasn't to be.

And there were some people who felt like, hey, we're this small, talented incubation team. We captured lightning in a bottle. Can't you let us go and do that again? But no, it wasn't to be because Hearthstone came out and then Hearthstone became enormous and it needed to be updated. It needed new cards and expansions and content. And bug fixes. So it wasn't to be.

It became another live service game. So the Blizzard of the very old, the Blizzard that was just releasing new products every couple of years, that is no more. The question is, can they go back to the Blizzard of... pre-2018 when they weren't just kind of stepping on rakes all the time and getting into PR controversy after PR controversy. And I think that'll be interesting to see. I don't know.

It became another live service game. So the Blizzard of the very old, the Blizzard that was just releasing new products every couple of years, that is no more. The question is, can they go back to the Blizzard of... pre-2018 when they weren't just kind of stepping on rakes all the time and getting into PR controversy after PR controversy. And I think that'll be interesting to see. I don't know.

It's hard to know what Microsoft is going to do with them because Microsoft as a whole has such a tenuous gaming... The gaming division's status is so tenuous right now. Yeah. That said, I've heard a lot of good things about Johanna Farris, their new boss. She seems to be well-respected. And it's definitely hard to argue that they haven't been battle-tested at this point at a company.

It's hard to know what Microsoft is going to do with them because Microsoft as a whole has such a tenuous gaming... The gaming division's status is so tenuous right now. Yeah. That said, I've heard a lot of good things about Johanna Farris, their new boss. She seems to be well-respected. And it's definitely hard to argue that they haven't been battle-tested at this point at a company.

I think they're going to be able to emerge from the ashes of the lawsuit and all of the controversy they've had to deal with a little bit stronger. So yeah, we'll see. I don't know. Certainly, people seem to really enjoy The War Within and Vessel of Hatred. So I think people are happy with the stuff they've released recently, at the very least.

I think they're going to be able to emerge from the ashes of the lawsuit and all of the controversy they've had to deal with a little bit stronger. So yeah, we'll see. I don't know. Certainly, people seem to really enjoy The War Within and Vessel of Hatred. So I think people are happy with the stuff they've released recently, at the very least.

For sure.

For sure.

And that was a company that was in the hundreds rather than in the thousands. It's so funny. So a lot of people have read the book back in the day when I was kind of getting early feedback on it. A couple of people were like to me, hey, Jason, you have the wrong kind of act structure here because the way the book is separated, it's part one is... Rise, part two is Fall, and part three is Future.

And that was a company that was in the hundreds rather than in the thousands. It's so funny. So a lot of people have read the book back in the day when I was kind of getting early feedback on it. A couple of people were like to me, hey, Jason, you have the wrong kind of act structure here because the way the book is separated, it's part one is... Rise, part two is Fall, and part three is Future.

And people are like, the Fall comes too soon. Why is the Fall coming right after the release of World of Warcraft and the Activision merger and all that stuff? Because Blizzard was still pretty successful for years after that. And I was like, yeah, well, sure. But actually, the Fall is in the perfect place. Because after World of Warcraft, Blizzard... went on its path, Blizzard began its fall.

And people are like, the Fall comes too soon. Why is the Fall coming right after the release of World of Warcraft and the Activision merger and all that stuff? Because Blizzard was still pretty successful for years after that. And I was like, yeah, well, sure. But actually, the Fall is in the perfect place. Because after World of Warcraft, Blizzard... went on its path, Blizzard began its fall.

Blizzard changed drastically. They went from a company of hundreds to a company of thousands. They became a company of box products to a company of live service. And World of Warcraft really became this kind of albatross on their neck. And I think that the early Blizzard, that can't be recreated again for a variety of reasons.

Blizzard changed drastically. They went from a company of hundreds to a company of thousands. They became a company of box products to a company of live service. And World of Warcraft really became this kind of albatross on their neck. And I think that the early Blizzard, that can't be recreated again for a variety of reasons.

The other part of this is there are many aspects of the early Blizzard that you wouldn't want to recreate or be able to recreate in 2025. Because fortunately, the video game industry treats people a lot better now than it did back then. Yeah, in college.