Uncovering the Inspiring and Difficult Journeys of Video Game Creation: Blood, Sweat, and Pixels

HunterHunter: If you like video game documentaries then this is the book for you. Having grown up with all the games mentioned in the book, it’s been extremely interesting to get insight into the process of how some of my favorite games of all time were made. Also as someone who’s considered learning how to code this book is very inspiring yet humbling. Overall this has got to be the best book I’ve read in the last 5 years

United States on Dec 20, 2023

Marissa Carnevale: The media could not be loaded.  I purchased this as a gift for a friend obsessed with video games. I haven’t read it but if it weren’t a gift, I would. All black and white pages, nothing illustrated or visual.

United States on Dec 06, 2023

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.

United Kingdom on Oct 21, 2023

shannon: As a gamer, I appreciate to see what went in the backstage in those developments. Some were amazing stories…one of them I knew was totally crap. It confirmed my suspicions and the other one surprised me completely. It is enjoyable to read something like this. I wanted to give 3.5 stars but I think 4 stars would be fair for a decent book like this, especially for gamers who enjoy reading too.

United States on Oct 11, 2023

Nicolás Darde: Interesantísimo libro donde se relatan diez desarrollos de videojuegos diferentes, con sus retos y problemáticas. Como en cualquier reto empresarial y más artísticos, 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.

Spain on Jul 15, 2023

Raul: Solo pude conseguir la versión física de este libro en Amazon

Mexico on Jul 08, 2023

jmac857 jmac857 : Livre fort excellent. 10 chapitres sur 10 développements de jeux très différents. Une très grande variété. Jason nous explique le développement très turbulent de nos jeux préférés et leurs créateurs. Il interview directement les développeurs pour leur faire raconter leurs histoires. Fascinant. Hyper bien écrit. Un must pour les fans de jeux vidéos.

France on Mar 08, 2021

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.

Brazil on Apr 21, 2020

Daniel Bastian: "Oh, Jason," he said. "It's a miracle that any game is made."

Finally, a book that captures the complexity of game development that anyone can pick up and enjoy. Jason Schreier of Kotaku spent two years traveling around the world to score in depth interviews with the industry's most renowned gaming studios. Drawing from sources speaking both on and off the record, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels provides a rare glimpse into the pain and passion that go into bringing a modern video game to market. In ten absorbing chapters Schreier covers the downright grueling development process behind such hits as Blizzard's Diablo III, Naughty Dog's Uncharted 4, CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3 and, of course, Bungie's Destiny.

Speaking of Destiny, it was Schreier's crucial 2015 exposé that laid the groundwork for this wonderful little book. (Portions of his chapter on Destiny are taken directly from that article.) As fans of the blockbuster series will remember, that Kotaku piece brought Destiny's murky origin story to light. Importantly, it provided the necessary background for understanding how the company that gave us Halo could have produced — at least at launch...

United States on Feb 16, 2018

Spidey: Blood, Sweat and Pixels, by Jason Schreier is a look at the process of creating video games in a way that most people don't really think about. From the legally unavoidable piracy issues in Poland leading to CD Projekt Red's formation to the lackluster release of Vanilla destiny, Jason tells us the behind the scenes stories of not only what happened to some of the video games released in an unexpected state, but why.

The writing is charming and well-paced. Reading it feels like listening to the story the developer would tell about the formation of their game, rather than the bland timeline of a game's development. At just under 300 pages, and containing ten chapters, no individual story wears out its welcome.

Someone asked me who the target audience of this book was. I think that if you're a fan of our show, you're definitely in that demographic. In general, if you're interested in getting into game development, if you've ever been baffled a features' lack of inclusion in the game, or wondered why a broken game was shipped in that state, this book will definitely answer a lot of questions you've had. One thing that's made clear is that nobody is...

United States on Sep 06, 2017