Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made
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Developing video games – hero’s journey or fool’s errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building today’s hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes listeners on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-size 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.
Taking some of the most popular, best-selling recent games, Schreier immerses listeners 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 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.
Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell – and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.
Customers say
Customers find the book very insightful and solid. They also find the stories interesting, inspiring, and devastating. Readers describe the writing style as very well written. They say the perspective is very insightful into the work that goes into making a video game. They mention the book is never boring, with plenty of humor, drama, and nerdisms. Customers also mention the writing pace as incredibly fast. Opinions are mixed on the content, with some finding it approachable and richly detailed, while others say it’s not compelling and repetitive.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Jacob H. –
A great book and present for any of your gamers
This book covers a lot of the major games that came out in the last 4 or 5 years that all have had interesting stories that are just “the norm” for video game designers. If you’re interested in getting into this profession or if you love one of the games listed in the book, I would highly recommend buying it. Great writing, great insight into the business, stresses you out because they’re stressed out. Each game is allotted at least 30 pages to tell their tale. Again, i highly enjoyed it, i recommend it, and I even bought 2 additional copies for friends of mine.
Cory M. –
Recommended for those interested or involved in the game development industry
I’ve been making games for 10+ years as an independent game developer, doing freelance work and working on my own projects. I knew a bit about what went on in larger studios, but I still learned a lot from this book. It was really interesting and enlightening hearing all the different stories behind the development of all 10 games that were covered.Even though I’m glad I read it, I found the writing to be unrefined. Information is sometimes presented out of order in a way that feels awkward. I recall a point where the book spoke about an E3 demo going really well which raised the developers’ spirits, but two paragraphs later the book revealed that the E3 demo was actually heavily scripted which made the developers feel uneasy. There was also quite a bit of redundancy, especially between chapters, but not exclusively.The book assumes you know nothing about video game development, or even computers (it explains what RAM is). This is great for people who are just curious about the industry, but it somewhat limits how much of the nitty gritty the book could really cover. However, it may have struck about as good a balance as one could hope for.The book is carried by the compelling behind the scenes stories that Jason Schreier got access to, not the writing. As such, I found the introduction to be weak in comparison to the rest of the book. He did do a reasonable enough job though, and I’m glad he decided to put in the effort to make this book.Despite its flaws, I’d still recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in game development. You’ll learn a lot about the industry, and it’s only around 270 pages long.
Martin Jul Hammer –
Must read for any creator
I often find journalism boring. And I find it far between good articles when it comes to game coverage. But in Blood, Sweat, and Pixels there are 10 excellent chapters covering the challenges, triumphs, and defeats in the making of 10 different games.There are two things, in my opinion, that make this book great.The first thing is Schreier’s fantastic writing style.Schreier focuses on individuals and their tale in the creation of a game, making it very close and personal to read. It’s not about a big, ambiguous organisation you can’t identify with. It’s a hot blooded human like you, and Schreier mixes description and dialogue in a way that makes them all come alive.Secondly, Schreier masters the element of curiosity and teasing. He tells the story slowly, constantly teasing that something is about to happen, making you gobble up page after page just to know what happens next.Schreier also has a knack of opening and closing each chapter in an excellent way. This is by far two of the hardest elements in writing. Sucking the reader in, and delivering an ending you can agree on, that leaves you with a feeling of satisfaction. Schreier opens and closes ALL 10 chapters to an A+. That is extraordinary in my opinion.So… Besides Schreier’s excellent writing, each chapter is uniquely interesting and never boring, because the games, people behind them, and the circumstances are so different.The chapter on Stardew Valley focuses on the story of an one-man army, starting from scratch, and follows his adventure and obstacles to make a game he wanted to play himself.The chapter on Diablo 3 focuses on the weight of carrying the legacy of the legendary Diablo 2, how things can go very wrong, and the fight to turn the ship around and re-imagine Diablo 3 into what it should have been from the start.Each chapter is just so different and interesting. Some game developers fight with impossible deadlines, others try to free themselves of the shackles of their publisher, others make promises they suddenly have to deliver on, and others simply yearn for creating something new, instead of doing the same game over and over again.I must say this is the best book I have read in a long time. If you need inspiration, and maybe feel a bit helpless in your own creative struggle, regardless of your chosen field, this book will remind you that you are not alone, and regardless if you make it or not, that it is well worth the effort spent.5 out of 5. Please read this. And a big thanks to you, Mr. Schreier.
Janelle A. Boisvert –
There were some interesting stories contained within this book and it was great to get some insider information about the development of video games. I wish the author would release another book that covered more games, particularly Fable.I’m not sure this book would be very interesting to anyone who isn’t interested in video games, but it’s a great book for the fans.
Raul –
Solo pude conseguir la versión fÃÂsica de este libro en Amazon
Myself –
We bought for our 12yo son, who loved it. Then I started reading it myself, and loved it, too. It tells you a lot about how the game software houses work. It grabs your attention, too. Lovely book.
Nicolás Darde –
InteresantÃÂsimo libro donde se relatan diez desarrollos de videojuegos diferentes, con sus retos y problemáticas. Como en cualquier reto empresarial y más artÃÂsticos, se narran los altos y bajos del periodo de desarrollo de estos videojuegos, desde Stardew Valley a Pillars of Eternity.Un indispensable para cualquiera que le interese la industria del videojuego.
Eduarda –
Se souber inglês não compre a versão traduzida, que altera em muito o conteúdo do livro, e para pior.Essencial para quem pretende ser desenvolvedor de jogos conhecer o que os aguarda e para os amantes de games enxergarem o lado de quem os faz.