Jason Schreier made a name for himself unearthing the often harrowing human stories behind the development of expensive, big-name video games in his reporting for Bloomberg News and his previous book Blood, Sweat, and Pixels. The engrossing Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry covers familiar territory from a different angle, focusing on the volatility endemic to the video game industry. Schreier interviews dozens of developers whose passion for developing games was challenged not only by a culture of overwork--particularly during frantic "crunch" periods before deadlines--but also by the frequent layoffs and studio closures that threatened to upend developers' lives. In Press Reset, Schreier considers some of the more dramatic studio closures, showing that even the most well-financed and artistically admired studios can't avoid volatility.
Not all is doom and gloom, however. For some developers, losing employment provided an opportunity to start over, fulfilling their creative urges by branching out into the world of indie games or even leaving the industry entirely to find a healthier way to live and work. Press Reset also explores ways to ameliorate the effects of volatility, from unionizing workplaces to embracing remote work. For video game enthusiasts, Schreier's book provides more of his signature behind-the-scenes reporting, shedding light on infamous episodes like the implosion of ex-baseball star Curt Schilling's 38 Studios, as well as the dark side of widely admired auteurs like Ken Levine. For everyone else, Schreier's incisive portrait of an industry that uses up talented workers according to the whims of millionaire executives might prove all too familiar. --Hank Stephenson, the Sun magazine, manuscript reader