Press Reset

Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry

By: Jason Schreier

Narrated by: Ray Chase

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels comes the next definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the video game industry: how some of the past decade's most renowned studios fell apart - and the stories, both triumphant and tragic, of what happened next.

Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it.

The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games - Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more - on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, Press Reset tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely.

Schreier's insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it's become so hard to make a stable living making video games - and whether the business of making games can change before it's too late.

©2021 Jason Schreier (P)2021 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

“Schreier covers the notoriously secretive gaming industry [and] knows it well.” (GQ)

“Jason Schreier is a huge fan of video games, and his enthusiasm is contagious.” (Booklist)

“My only complaint about Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is that there wasn't more to read.” (Forbes)

Must Read/Listen for Gamers

Extremely evocative storytelling with a wide variety of fascinating, yet sad, stories. Ultimately, it does end on a hopeful note, with the desire for work from home to become a better standard.

An exciting/horrifying look into game development.

A must read for anyone interested in game design and development.
Looking behind the curtain of game development the book reveals just how much of their lives each and every person gives to create games of any kind.

This hit close to home. An unexpected thriller

I almost grew numb to hearing about the all hands final meetings or scenarios in which keycards stopped working. This was an unexpected thriller.

Stories that needed telling.

I think this is an amazing capture of a period of time in video games where the industry is struggling against corporate and c-level decision making that is absolutely trouncing some studios. This is a great investigative piece that really captures the stories of those involved and how they’re affected. I’m glad someone was able to write a book about it.

On a more technical review, the narrator is great, but the pick ups are glaringly obvious and seem odd, though I think most readers won’t notice. Not sure how the audio director didn’t pick up the difference of them. But I still think it’s definitely worth a read/listen!

A Strong Case for Unionization in Game Development

Just a fantastic listen from start to end about game development and its unspoken human cost. It was a roller coaster learning more about the development toll of major releases, both the critically acclaimed, the universally trashed, and the inbetweens, and how those game devs moved on.

Must read for anyone working in gaming.

Well written, and well narrated. This book, and th authors previous book, are must reads for anyone currently working in, or thinking about working in the gaming industry. This industry suffers from a lack of insider exposure, and there are not enough resources like this out there to help outsiders understand the state of the gaming industry. It is often a relentless, cutthroat industry, and most gamers have no idea how much the people who made their games have sacrificed in order to do so.

Great listen! Love learning about the industry.

Tells the true story from a human perspective, has a lot of good interviews from the people who were there and does a good job drawing a lot together.

Great book, great performance, iffy audio

I really loved this book. I had just listened to “Blood, Sweat and Pixels” by the same author, read by the same reader. I love both. But there are sentences throughout this entire reading where the audio quality is noticeably worse than the sentence before and after. You can still understand everything being said, but the changes in quality are distracting. Even so, I highly recommend this.

Relateable

As a game dev recently layed off after relocation I can relate these guys. I love the guy who reads it. Hive me more like this

Really insightful, intact human stories

Really enjoyed this, the way the stories are woven together felt natural with consistent callbacks and references to earlier parts of the book - which I really appreciated. Highly recommend for those who scratch their heads every-time a major game studio closes.