Book Report - 'Blood, Sweat, and Pixels' by Jason Schreier
After a sequence of self-improvement and management books, I wanted a breather book; something that didn't take a lot of thought or attention to process, and ESPECIALLY something that didn't require input or response from me. I didn't really want to jump into a new series that would require me to continue with another few books for the full picture. In fact, I didn't want fiction at all. I looked into my library's catalogue of audiobooks for titles related to video games, just as a starting point. "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels" came up, and it seemed to fit all those conditions.
The general formula of the book is that each chapter picks a video game, most of which are extremely well known and had significant market presence, and talk through some of the struggles the team went through during the planning and development process. On the tail end of the process, it's easy to think that creators KNEW what a success their game would be from beginning to end. However, many of these teams wondered if their work would ever see the light of day and make it to the hands of players. Household names like Destiny, Shovel Knight, and Star Wars are easy to take for granted now, but there was a time when these stalwart intellectual properties were nothing more than an idea.
Schreier really does some impressive legwork, interviewing development teams and executives himself, but also pulling in external sources. I cannot imagine the amount of time it took to get such a full picture about even ONE game, let alone multiple games. His hard work definitely pays off, though. The passion of the development teams is palpable, and the struggles that they endured seem often excruciating. Perhaps it's exaggerated for drama in some cases, but it genuinely feels like a miracle that ANY games get created, and the sacrifices of the creators seem admirable.
As a software engineer myself, I fully expected a lot of the struggles that Schreier details. Pressing deadlines and power struggles with management aren't just possibilities, they are the norm. Fortunately, I can just shut it off when I finish work in the afternoon. Business purpose mortgage lending isn't my passion, it's just a way to pay the bills. I can't imagine the pressure of having a vision, quitting my job to pursue it, and crunching 12+ hour days for weeks on end to make that vision a reality. "Passion tax" is real, and it's far more than just taking a smaller salary for your work; it often involves pouring your entire self into a project.
If you enjoy video games and you aren't a software engineer, "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels" may be particularly eye opening for you. If you do code for a living or at least dabble in it, the book might make you appreciate your current job by showing how much worse it can be for others. In either case, I think it's a very cool insight into the industry that I am so frequently just a consumer of. It gives me better context on the absolutely Herculean effort it often takes to bring a game to market. Schreier also has a newer book, "Press Reset," a similar take with a more negative context. I'll definitely add it to the backlog of one-off books to keep me busy when I need another breather.
Resources:
Schreier, J., & Chase, R. (2017). Blood, sweat, and Pixels: The triumphant, turbulent stories behind how video games are made. HarperAudio.
Schreier really does some impressive legwork, interviewing development teams and executives himself, but also pulling in external sources. I cannot imagine the amount of time it took to get such a full picture about even ONE game, let alone multiple games. His hard work definitely pays off, though. The passion of the development teams is palpable, and the struggles that they endured seem often excruciating. Perhaps it's exaggerated for drama in some cases, but it genuinely feels like a miracle that ANY games get created, and the sacrifices of the creators seem admirable.
As a software engineer myself, I fully expected a lot of the struggles that Schreier details. Pressing deadlines and power struggles with management aren't just possibilities, they are the norm. Fortunately, I can just shut it off when I finish work in the afternoon. Business purpose mortgage lending isn't my passion, it's just a way to pay the bills. I can't imagine the pressure of having a vision, quitting my job to pursue it, and crunching 12+ hour days for weeks on end to make that vision a reality. "Passion tax" is real, and it's far more than just taking a smaller salary for your work; it often involves pouring your entire self into a project.
If you enjoy video games and you aren't a software engineer, "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels" may be particularly eye opening for you. If you do code for a living or at least dabble in it, the book might make you appreciate your current job by showing how much worse it can be for others. In either case, I think it's a very cool insight into the industry that I am so frequently just a consumer of. It gives me better context on the absolutely Herculean effort it often takes to bring a game to market. Schreier also has a newer book, "Press Reset," a similar take with a more negative context. I'll definitely add it to the backlog of one-off books to keep me busy when I need another breather.
Resources:
Schreier, J., & Chase, R. (2017). Blood, sweat, and Pixels: The triumphant, turbulent stories behind how video games are made. HarperAudio.
Started playing Pillars of Eternity specifically because of this book.
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