Jason Schreier

And the book Play Nice kind of tracks the history, like the rise of Bobby Kotick and the history of Activision. We could work well together. And also Activision is really good on consoles. We're a PC gaming company. This is actually a really good potential relationship. And it is for a while. For a few years, things go really well.

Blizzard is firing on all cylinders, WoW is growing every single year, and things seem to be going quite well. Blizzard always delivered on that promise. For 20 years, they delivered on the promise of, you leave us alone, you give us time, you let us delay the games a few times, and we will get you hits no matter what. And that changed in 2013 when they canceled this project called Titan.

Blizzard is firing on all cylinders, WoW is growing every single year, and things seem to be going quite well. Blizzard always delivered on that promise. For 20 years, they delivered on the promise of, you leave us alone, you give us time, you let us delay the games a few times, and we will get you hits no matter what. And that changed in 2013 when they canceled this project called Titan.

Blizzard is firing on all cylinders, WoW is growing every single year, and things seem to be going quite well. Blizzard always delivered on that promise. For 20 years, they delivered on the promise of, you leave us alone, you give us time, you let us delay the games a few times, and we will get you hits no matter what. And that changed in 2013 when they canceled this project called Titan.

that was promised as the successor to World of Warcraft. And when Titan was canceled, that changed everything for the company, because then Activision Blizzard, run by Bobby Kotick, could look over and be like, hey, you promised us that you would deliver nonstop hits if we let you have all the independence and autonomy that you wanted, and you didn't, and you failed.

that was promised as the successor to World of Warcraft. And when Titan was canceled, that changed everything for the company, because then Activision Blizzard, run by Bobby Kotick, could look over and be like, hey, you promised us that you would deliver nonstop hits if we let you have all the independence and autonomy that you wanted, and you didn't, and you failed.

that was promised as the successor to World of Warcraft. And when Titan was canceled, that changed everything for the company, because then Activision Blizzard, run by Bobby Kotick, could look over and be like, hey, you promised us that you would deliver nonstop hits if we let you have all the independence and autonomy that you wanted, and you didn't, and you failed.

You threw $80 million into a furnace. So we can't give you that same level of autonomy anymore. And he didn't directly say this, but it became clear in the coming months and years that as the pressure started, that Activision began to feel like Blizzard was failing. Suddenly, Activision is looking over and they're like, hey, we need to get some adults in the room here.

You threw $80 million into a furnace. So we can't give you that same level of autonomy anymore. And he didn't directly say this, but it became clear in the coming months and years that as the pressure started, that Activision began to feel like Blizzard was failing. Suddenly, Activision is looking over and they're like, hey, we need to get some adults in the room here.

You threw $80 million into a furnace. So we can't give you that same level of autonomy anymore. And he didn't directly say this, but it became clear in the coming months and years that as the pressure started, that Activision began to feel like Blizzard was failing. Suddenly, Activision is looking over and they're like, hey, we need to get some adults in the room here.

And what they wind up doing is they have Blizzard hire... a new CTO and a new CFO. And for the CFO position, they wind up recommending this guy who, so Bobby Kotick has this second-in-command Thomas Tipple, and Thomas Tipple knows this guy from his days at Procter & Gamble named Armin Zerza.

And what they wind up doing is they have Blizzard hire... a new CTO and a new CFO. And for the CFO position, they wind up recommending this guy who, so Bobby Kotick has this second-in-command Thomas Tipple, and Thomas Tipple knows this guy from his days at Procter & Gamble named Armin Zerza.

And what they wind up doing is they have Blizzard hire... a new CTO and a new CFO. And for the CFO position, they wind up recommending this guy who, so Bobby Kotick has this second-in-command Thomas Tipple, and Thomas Tipple knows this guy from his days at Procter & Gamble named Armin Zerza.

And Armin Zerza comes in as the new Blizzard CFO, and he is not somebody that a lot of Blizzard folks get along with, because he comes in and he's like, why can't we treat these games like diapers and soap and detergent and just ship them and start a new factory to make more of them? He has never made games before. He comes in with a very different perspective.

And Armin Zerza comes in as the new Blizzard CFO, and he is not somebody that a lot of Blizzard folks get along with, because he comes in and he's like, why can't we treat these games like diapers and soap and detergent and just ship them and start a new factory to make more of them? He has never made games before. He comes in with a very different perspective.

And Armin Zerza comes in as the new Blizzard CFO, and he is not somebody that a lot of Blizzard folks get along with, because he comes in and he's like, why can't we treat these games like diapers and soap and detergent and just ship them and start a new factory to make more of them? He has never made games before. He comes in with a very different perspective.

He doesn't really understand video game fans. And he tries. He spends a little bit of time playing World of Warcraft. He tries to get it, but he just rubs people the wrong way within Blizzard. And at the same time as that's happening, Activision is applying more pressure from above on the Blizzard executive circle.

He doesn't really understand video game fans. And he tries. He spends a little bit of time playing World of Warcraft. He tries to get it, but he just rubs people the wrong way within Blizzard. And at the same time as that's happening, Activision is applying more pressure from above on the Blizzard executive circle.

He doesn't really understand video game fans. And he tries. He spends a little bit of time playing World of Warcraft. He tries to get it, but he just rubs people the wrong way within Blizzard. And at the same time as that's happening, Activision is applying more pressure from above on the Blizzard executive circle.

And it really starts hitting ahead around 2017, 2018, to the point where Mike Morhaime who is this beloved CEO of Blizzard and the co-founder of the company, he resigns. And he writes a letter, an email to Bobby Kotick towards the end of things, I got a hold of and quoted from in the book.