Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made

Jason Schreier's treatise on the crazy world of game development pulls back the curtains on what often happens behind the scenes of some of our favorite games. The torturous, complicated, and turbulent world of making a video game is put on display, as we get an insider's glimpse of the politics, the people, and the industry. Most people are unaware of how difficult it is to actually bring a game to market successfully, let alone realizing that doing so usually requires many weeks, if not months, of 80- to 120-hour workweeks for entire teams of people. After finishing the book, the tagline for ABC's iconic Wide World of Sports from the 70's seemed to fit perfectly for the developers, engineers, artists, designers and product leads that gave so much - "the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat."

Jason Schreier is news editor for the gaming website Kotaku, and has also provided articles related to video games to major media outlets, such as Wired, the New York Times, and the Onion. As such, he is able to provide a knowledgeable take on the subject, deftly walking the line between explaining concepts and situations for the uninitiated that most gamers would already know, and still being fascinating and interesting to both. His writing is solid, and easy to follow.

Schreier's book consists of the in-depth story behind the making of 10 popular video games. Often the stories read like fiction, with heroes and villains, twists and turns, sacrifices of unbelievable proportions, and evil empires, er, corporations. Sometimes they end good, sometimes not. And sometimes your not sure. You'll have to decide if the price paid by all involved is worth the final product. Because the price is often more than you realize when you boot up your favorite game for a few minutes of escapism.

Even though I've given the book a 3 rating, please don't take this as meaning it is a bad book. Quite the contrary. On my scale this means it is still very much worth your time. But at the end of the day, it reads like 10 very good separate, but thinly related, articles, as opposed to a strong and deep book.

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I noticed the store and Goodreads have a slightly different meanings to their 5-point scale. I thought it was odd to have a different rating for the same book on two different sites, so I came up with my own scale below. For the record, it is fairly close to the store's scale, but allows me to be consistent between the two sites.

5 - Fantastic. Life-altering. Maybe only 25 in a lifetime.
4 - Very good.
3 - Worth your time.
2 - Not very good.
1 - Atrocious

There’s so much to know about video game development that fans take for granted. This book uncovers it all in a very accessible, though at times painfully real, chronicle. Best for gamers interested in the other half of the culture they strongly identify with.

I listening to the audible version which is very well done, not monotone at all. I enjoyed the insights at lot. Easy to forget that no matter how experienced a studio is, they all struggle with achieving their super ambitious goals.

Simply put, there has never been a better book about the beautiful and brutal endeavor of creating video games. A must-read for anyone interested in gaming, the entertainment industry, and the creative process.

Fantastic book!! If you’re even slightly interested in the inner workings of game development and what those companies go through to get a game shipped, then this is the book to read. Thank you Mr. Schreier.

This is a quick and entertaining read on the pain and breadth of creating new worlds in software. Recommended reading for anyone who has worked in software development of has an interest in technology.

As a life-long gamer I have always been fascinated with how games get made. These people go through a TON to get these games made. I have always appreciated the work that goes into and this book does a great job of shedding some light on exactly how rough it can be.

I also loved seeing some more behind the scenes type stuff on a few of my favorite games. I'm glad some folks from these companies were willing to speak up and let Jason tell us the story behind so much hard work and sacrifice.

Great book detailing the grueling process behind the making of a videogame. I like that the book deals with big AAA blockbuster games, indie games and also games that ended up being cancelled altogether.

I have two issues with this book, though. The first one is that some of the stories feel a bit rushed. I understand that it was an enormous task to do the research and interviews, but I feel the author could have gotten more testimonies of the people involved into the book.

The second one is lenght. As a 5 hour read I felt it was too short. I think the stories are so interesting I would've liked to read more.

If you don't know anything about how modern video games are made, you'll learn a fair amount here, and gain some understanding about why there are so many delays and why games can change so much from the time they're demoed to the time they come out. But if you read one chapter, you've pretty much read them all, because they're all just variations on the same theme. Avoid unless you're a huge fan of this genre or a fan of all—or at least most—of the games he discusses.

Incredibly well-research, well-written, and engaging look behind the scenes at the realities of game development life. As a part-time indie dev, it's both fascinating and comforting to read about the challenges and victories of other studios.

A truly interesting and eclectic look in the face of the monster that is video game development. And it is a rather intimidating monster.

I wish less time was invested in explaining what is 'Steam' and what are 'XP Points', which the intended audience for this book probably already knows.

Coming from someone with a lot of experience playing games, and some experience making games, this was a really interesting set of stories. Each chapter details the history of a different game. My main complaint is that the author was trying to reach a huge audience of people who might have very little experience with video games. As such, sometimes it felt like a young adult book, with Lemony Snicket interjecting to define difficult words. Other times, I wish some of the details were more granular.

Interesting, but not extraordinary. Won’t read it again. Wasn’t very informative in terms of business or software engineering, just loosely connected stories about production of several games. Not sure what else I hoped for :)

Jason's writing is really very enjoyable and with each chapter, I learn something new about Game Developers and the development process.

This is both an insightful read and an entertaining one.

I can only hope to see Jason write another book in the future.

The book gives us a really great insight into the world of game development. With a look into the stories of great games like Uncharted 4, Witcher 3, and Stardew Valley. Jason is a great writer and if you enjoy his writing style and the investigative reporting he's done for Kotaku you should totally pick this up. Even if you aren't familiar with Jason's work but are interested in game development, or video games in general, pick this one up! And maybe check out his articles. You won't be disappointed.

The copy of the audiobook I received is incomplete. The last disc (disc#7) has only one track, and it cuts off abruptly. This seemed odd, so I borrowed a copy of the paperback version from the library to compare, and I found out the audiobook I purchased is missing about 1/3 of chapter 9, all of chapter 10, and the epilogue.
In short, I received a defective copy of the audiobook, and by the time I found this out, the window of time to return this product on the store had ended.
Terrible QC from the publisher, shipping me a defective product.