Review
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“Necessary to read… by the end, my only complaint
about Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is that there wasn’t more to
read.” (Forbes.com)
“Making video games is one of most transformative, exciting
things I’ve done in my two decades as a freelance writer. Making
video games is also an excruciating journey into Hellmouth
itself. Jason Schreier’s wonderful book captures both the
excitement and the hell. Here, at long last, is a gripping,
intelligent glimpse behind a thick (and needlessly
secretive) creative curtain.” (Tom Bissell, author of Extra
Lives and Apostle, and writer on the Gears of War, Uncharted,
and Battlefield franchises)
“A meticulously researched, well-written, and painful at times
account of many developers’ and studios’ highs and lows. May need
to make it required reading for the developers at my studio.”
(Cliff Bleszinski, creator of Gears of War and founder of Boss
Key Productions)
“The stories in this book make for a fascinating and remarkably
complete pantheon of just about every common despair and every
joy related to game development.” (Rami Ismail, cofounder of
Vlam and developer of Nuclear Throne)
“Jason Schreier brilliantly exposes the truth about how video
games are made. Brutal, honest, yet ultimately uplifting; I’ve
been gaming for thirty years, yet I was surprised by every page.
Turns out what I didn’t know about my favorite hobby could fill a
book. This book! Can’t recommend it enough to any serious fan of
this generation’s greatest new art form.” (Adam Conover,
executive producer and host of truTV’s Adam Ruins Everything)
“...his enthusiasm is contagious; even if you’ve never played one
of these games, you’ll be riveted by the account of how they came
to be.” (Booklist)
“Schreier covers the notoriously secretive gaming industry… and
he knows it well… He also clearly respects [the] developers and
their achievements, and treats their rueful tales of selfless
struggle with an admiring deference…a useful survey of the
landscape of game production at this cultural moment.” (GQ)
“Schreier sets each scene with admirable prowess, giving the
reader just enough information to feel the weight of each story.
For anyone who has ever wondered how some of the most successful
games are made, this book is a real eye-opener… At its heart,
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is an ode to the people who put every
fiber of their being into making memorable experiences for gamers
all over the world.” (Fiction Southeast)
“Lively writing… For fans of video games, Blood, Sweat, and
Pixels is a must read, but anyone interested in stories about the
hard process of making art is also sure to enjoy it.” (Shelf
Awareness)
“One of the most inful pieces of text I’ve ever read… It’s a
well-written tale of real sacrifice, struggles, and more, it’s
almost inspiring despite how sad it can be at times.” (GameZone)
From the Back Cover
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The creative and technical logistics that go into building
today’s hottest games can be more fraught with challenges and
complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless
maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason
Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes
of video game development, where the creator may be a team of six
hundred overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring
the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace
demands, and Donkey Kong–sized monkey wrenches thrown into the
works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing
any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it’s nothing short
of miraculous.
Examining some of the bestselling games and most infamous
failures, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the
development process, whether it’s RPG studio BioWare’s challenge
to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical
nightmares to build Dragon Age: Inquisition; indie developer Eric
Barone’s single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew
Valley from one man’s vision into a multimillion-dollar
franchise; or Bungie employees spinning out from their corporate
overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand-new universe
that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of
the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart.
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development
hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and
unsung heroes who scale ains of obstacles in their quests to
create the best games imaginable.