Jason Schreier

In the business sense, you can't understand the Activision takeover and why that happened and why it matters and why it affected Mike Morhaime so much without going all the way back and looking at the revolving door of corporate parents and how Blizzard dealt with them

And why Blizzard needed to get out of Vivendi so badly and why it would take that deal with Activision and think Activision was a good partner at first and so on and so forth. Like you can't understand what happened in the recent years of Blizzard, the last seven years of Blizzard, without going way back to the beginning and kind of tracing that story. And same with the cultural stuff.

And why Blizzard needed to get out of Vivendi so badly and why it would take that deal with Activision and think Activision was a good partner at first and so on and so forth. Like you can't understand what happened in the recent years of Blizzard, the last seven years of Blizzard, without going way back to the beginning and kind of tracing that story. And same with the cultural stuff.

You can't understand how Blizzard got to this point where it was being served with a lawsuit for sexual harassment and misconduct without going all the way back to the beginning and looking at the early kind of frat house days of Blizzard and then tracing that through the college campus days of Blizzard and really just seeing that a lot of those people who grew up with Blizzard in a certain cultural way

You can't understand how Blizzard got to this point where it was being served with a lawsuit for sexual harassment and misconduct without going all the way back to the beginning and looking at the early kind of frat house days of Blizzard and then tracing that through the college campus days of Blizzard and really just seeing that a lot of those people who grew up with Blizzard in a certain cultural way

stuck around and we're still there and we're in leadership positions by the time the lawsuit hit and problems started to emerge. So it's really, you can't tell the full story without going all the way back to the beginning, which is ultimately what led me to decide to structure the book this way.

stuck around and we're still there and we're in leadership positions by the time the lawsuit hit and problems started to emerge. So it's really, you can't tell the full story without going all the way back to the beginning, which is ultimately what led me to decide to structure the book this way.

And I also, I think that it's important also to be like, hey, remember that idyllic version of Blizzard, like the Blizzard that made all those games that you and I loved back in the 90s and 2000s. Even that Blizzard had a lot of issues, had staff rebellions over pay and people who felt like they were being treated unfairly and people who got abused at the workplace and

And I also, I think that it's important also to be like, hey, remember that idyllic version of Blizzard, like the Blizzard that made all those games that you and I loved back in the 90s and 2000s. Even that Blizzard had a lot of issues, had staff rebellions over pay and people who felt like they were being treated unfairly and people who got abused at the workplace and

including Andy Weir, who would go on to write The Martian, and women who were mistreated even back then when it was 95% men at the company. So it's important to also just kind of look back at Blizzard and be like, wow, this was a place that made so many great games, that was so great in so many ways, but also had this ugly side festering even back then.

including Andy Weir, who would go on to write The Martian, and women who were mistreated even back then when it was 95% men at the company. So it's important to also just kind of look back at Blizzard and be like, wow, this was a place that made so many great games, that was so great in so many ways, but also had this ugly side festering even back then.

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.

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.