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February 21, 2025 31 mins

Lately, the video games industry is in turmoil. The rise and fall of Blizzard, the trailblazing and toxic studio behind World of Warcraft, shows us why. 

Our guest, Jason Schreier, is an investigative reporter who covers the video game industry for Bloomberg News. His most recent book is the best-selling Play Nice: The Rise, Fall and Future of Blizzard Entertainment. Jason shares his years-long reporting on the frat-like culture at Blizzard, the scandal-plagued games developer that Microsoft bought for $75.4 billion (U.S.).

He talks about how commercial success can lead to creative decline, why Candy Crush is evil, and the future of gaming. 

Also, Vass and Katrina go on an epic quest.

Subscribe to the Lately newsletter, where the Globe’s online culture reporter Samantha Edwards unpacks more of the latest in business and technology.

Find the transcript of today’s episode here.

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