Blood, Sweat, and Pixels

The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made

By: Jason Schreier

Narrated by: Ray Chase

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-sized 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, bestselling 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 multi-million-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.

Great book. Really enjoyed listening to it

Hands down one of the best books I've ever listened to. I'm not into games, but it was entertaining to hear the passion and struggle of game creators.

super interesting!

Such a great book! the stories were fascinating, a good length, and well read! I couldn't put the book down! I love how it showcased different styles of games that went through different struggles. I would love a new one that went over some more recent games.

Great Title!

The books is very well written and informative about the game industry. I’ve read it several time and listen twice as many. So good!!

A fun listen!

I found this to be very entertaining and informative. If you love video games, the industry or just want to hear stories about some of gaming's most influential games this is worth the credit.

A great book for anyone who is interested in understanding how games are made

A fascinating selection of stores about some of the most iconic games over the past few years. It really makes you think about how games are made and allows you to appreciate them even more that you may have previously.