May 12, 2021

EP. 104 — Toil and Turmoil in the Video Game Industry with Jason Schreier

If you love video games, working in game development sounds like a dream job — especially since the industry now grosses more than movies and sports combined. But the reality is a lot less… fun than you might think. This week journalist Jason Schreier joins Adam to discuss his latest book Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry. In it, Jason sheds new light on the strenuous, sometimes-abusive work environments behind some of the world’s most popular and beloved games. Purchase Jason’s book Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry at http://factuallypod.com/books

Transcript

FACT-104-20210505-JasonSchreier-ACv02-ALT-DYN.mp3 Speaker 1 [00:00:02] Hello, welcome to Factually, I’m Adam Conover. Thank you so much for listening. If you are a fan of what I do (if you’re aware of me at all, frankly) I don’t think this will come as a surprise to you: I enjoy playing video games. Is that clear from my voice and face and general personality? I enjoy playing them, I loved them as a kid and I play them now. I happen to think that they are one of the most interesting new art forms we have as a species. There are incredible things being done in video games, new interactions that we have between us; the experiencer and the artists who made the game. If you’re not playing video games I happen to think you’re missing out on one of the most interesting cultural products that we have going right now. The products of the video game industry continue to impress and delight. And by the way, they are massive. The video game industry in 2020 grossed a

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