Blood, Sweat, and Pixels

Behind the Scenes

The stories in this book are:

1. Pillars of Eternity: How crowdfunding changes the rules, and changes the priorities of the developer who promised backers certain gameplay features, against deadlines and a limited budget. This story provides a better understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of crowdfunding.
2. Uncharted 4: How too much success affects a studio, and how to successfully end a successful series. It is also the story of The Last of Us, which nobody expected to be successful early on. I enjoyed all the possibilities of how different this game could have been.
3. Stardew Valley: The great risks and heartwarming payoff of going solo. The ending made me want to play this game.
4. Diablo 3: The troubles of online-only games, and the angst and pressures of racing against time to meet player expectations. In the end, it is a success story that had a lot of challenges and frustrations along the way.
5. Halo Wars: How games are transformed in the middle of development, and the pressures of working against a deadline. The Age of Empires developers are behind Halo Wars. Who knew?
6. Dragon Age: Inquisition: How EA corporate politics and poor can slow down game development and creates a large degree of developer frustration. After reading this, I have a better understanding of why EA is a blight on video games.
7. Shovel Knight: The quest to create an iconic character inspired by classic NES games and characters. It provides an insider look into an indie game team and the challenges they face.
8. Destiny: The challenges of combining multiple genres and trying to create something that's never been done before, and how past successes tend to dictate what the next success would look like. It is also the story of how a developer matures.
9. The Witcher 3: The reason for the volume and quality of content is revealed, in one of the most fascinating and enjoyable chapters of this audiobook.
10. Star Wars 1313: How a game that can do no wrong ends up being buried due to corporate politics. Delayed because of Disney and canceled outright by EA, this is the game that makes you wonder, what if? Also, f*ck EA.

49 of 52 people found this review helpful

Ray Chase is great!

I'm glad I purchased the audio version of this book because listening to Ray Chase was a delight. Having a voice actor of video games narrate a book on video games was a solid choice.

Overall, the book was a nice slice of various company's descent into and occasionally ascent from the madness of producing video games. The anecdotes are both humbling and harrowing and are sure to make game fans think twice when they criticize a game. As noted, with all the moving parts and preferences, it's miracle any game gets made.

Worth the read, or preferably, the listen, if you are a fan of or just curious about video games and their production.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Great inside look into the gaming industry

What did you love best about Blood, Sweat, and Pixels?

As someone who has played video games since their childhood, and flirted with the prospect of maybe one day making video games, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a fantastic look inside a variety of studios as they worked through development of their titles. I loved that the author interviewed developers from different grades of studios; from the one-man indie developer all the way to AAA game studios. It offers a great answer to why video games cost so much money, and why they take so long to make. I would offer this up to anyone that wants to get into the industry, on any level.

What did you like best about this story?

My favorite segment/chapter was probably the one on Star Wars 1313 as it told the story of how that game came to be, and why it disappeared. It was heart wrenching, but also somewhat inevitable with how Lucas Arts was run once upon a time.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to this book while doing my weekly running, and always found myself wanting to continue listening, which pushed me to run just a little bit more.

Any additional comments?

My only negative, and it is a good negative to have I guess, is that I wish there were more chapters. It was amazing to hear how the different studios approached their problems, and how some of them made the same mistakes as others did (i.e. Destiny and Diablo 3). I just wanted more in the end.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

great look at an industry stuck in a cycle

overall the book is a great look at the making of some great video games, as well as some great failures.

I couldn't help but notice, however, that even as the author spoke about the unhealthy practices of video game labor management it was almost romanticized to a degree, like video game developers needed to be these pioneer souls that are willing to sacrifice their health and even family to make a game-- rather than what is true, which is that it's an industry rife with labor exploitation.

I'm less speaking on the indie devs who chose to use their time for their passions and more the multiple triple a studios that rely on insane expectations as a matter of course. The scientific literature isn't sparse on the subject of labor, rest, efficiency, and productivity and those mentioned in the book that couldn't see how a game gets done without months of crunch are simply stuck in a cultural spiral. Ignoring rote science in favor of anecdotal "experience" is sadly the norm in a lot of big industries, and those with the checkbook are happy to support this culture of exploitation.

Regardless, it is a very good book with inspiring stories describing passionate people. I just hope industry insiders who read it begin to realize that major changes need to happen within the industry to stop incredibly unhealthy practices and incredibly damaging exploitation.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A must read, truly.

If you love video games, this should be the first book you read about them.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Excellent look at the industry behind the fun

As great as Masters of Doom is, and it really is great, it doesn't capture the real life experience of the video game industry as a whole. Blood Sweat and Pixels does exactly this with 10 examples of well known games and their grueling paths through development hell. I recommend this book to anyone interested in how the digital sausage is made. And I think it should be mandatory reading for anyone considering going into this industry.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

You want to work in gaming :)

Thoroughly enjoyable and page-turning read that paints an honest and at times horrifying picture of the world of video game development.

The author details real-life stories and experiences from multiple games and various game studios, with the same names occasionally popping up in multiple stories. The attributable quotes and stories definitely add substantial authenticity to the book.

The book not only highlights the passion and love that many in gaming have, but for me, the true highlight is the amazing dedication that those workers have - it’s both inspirational and crazy, on occasions to their own detriment.

I’d consider this a must-read for anyone working in the video games industry or anyone who considers them a gamer.

I finished this book with a plethora of games I now want to play, several of them new to me.

ggwp to the author, great writing and superb book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I enjoyed this book.

It's required that I use at least fifteen words to say I liked this book.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Great book

as a gamer this book gives great insight into the development Side of the gaming industry. goes through the good and the bad of making games. great story I wish there was more like this. I highly recommend this book

Very In Depth

Great book. Never knew so much went into video games, which is crazy cause I mean look at them. Truly a passion project and an art form.