Quick Take
- Narration: Ray Chase reads the English-language edition with controlled intensity that suits the book’s investigative tone, though the edition listed here appears to be the French translation by Mana Books.
- Themes: Video game industry volatility, studio closure, worker resilience after layoffs
- Mood: Sobering and journalistic, with flashes of grudging admiration for the people who rebuild
- Verdict: Jason Schreier’s follow-up to Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a necessary corrective to the games industry’s glossy self-presentation; note that the edition catalogued here is the French translation.
A note before we begin: the edition catalogued here under press-reset is the French-language translation published by Mana Books, with a synopsis entirely in French and at least one French-language review. The English-language audiobook of Press Reset by Jason Schreier, narrated by Ray Chase, is separately available on Audible. This review covers the book’s content and the English audiobook experience, which is the version most readers visiting AudiobookDaily will be seeking.
I listened to the English edition on a series of late-night drives, which felt appropriate. There is something about the hours after midnight that suits journalism about failure and resilience, and Schreier’s second games-industry book is very much about what happens when things fall apart and what the people inside those failures choose to do next.
Our Take on Press Reset
Where Schreier’s first book, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, documented the chaotic process of making games, Press Reset focuses on the aftermath: the studio closures, the hostile acquisitions, the bounced checks, the colleagues who scatter across states and try to build something new. He draws on dozens of first-person interviews with developers who worked on titles including BioShock Infinite, Epic Mickey, and Dead Space, and the portrait that emerges is of an industry that generates enormous cultural and financial value while treating the people who create it as interchangeable components.
What distinguishes the book from simple industry criticism is the human texture Schreier brings to the workers themselves. These are not abstractions. They are people with mortgages, spouses who relocated for a job that evaporated, children who had to change schools when the studio in Austin or Boston or Montreal closed its doors. Schreier’s reporting methodology, long-form interviews with people willing to speak candidly about experiences they were often contractually discouraged from discussing, produces material with genuine emotional weight.
Why Listen to Press Reset
Ray Chase’s narration in the English edition is well matched to the material. His voice has a quality of controlled frustration that mirrors the emotional register of the book without tipping into editorializing. The investigative chapters, where Schreier is essentially walking you through the internal collapse of a studio, are particularly well served by Chase’s pacing. The book moves fast despite its nearly 416 pages of source material condensed into just over eight hours of audio.
The book also functions as an economic argument. Schreier’s central provocation, that the games industry has become extremely difficult to sustain a stable career in despite being more profitable than ever, is presented with enough documented evidence that it is hard to dismiss as anecdote. The contrast between studio revenue and worker precarity is made concrete through individual stories in a way that aggregate statistics never achieve.
What to Watch For in Press Reset
The lone French review in the available data describes the book as less structured than Schreier’s first, noting the absence of a table of contents as a frustration. That criticism has some validity in audio form too: the book moves between studios and timelines in a way that requires active attention to keep the threads organized. Listeners who want a linear, clearly signposted narrative will need to stay engaged.
The book also does not offer much in the way of systemic solutions. Schreier diagnoses the problem with considerable precision but is more journalist than reformer; he presents the evidence and lets listeners draw their own conclusions about unionization, regulation, or industry restructuring. Some will find that restraint appropriate, others will want him to push further.
Who Should Listen to Press Reset
Anyone who plays games and wants to understand the human cost of the industry that makes them. Also valuable for people interested in labor economics, creative industry precarity, or the structural forces that shape technology companies. If you read Blood, Sweat, and Pixels and wanted to follow the story beyond the credits roll, this is the natural continuation. Verify you are purchasing the English-language edition before downloading, as the French translation is catalogued under the same slug on this site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the version listed here the English or French edition of Press Reset?
The edition catalogued under this listing is the French translation by Mana Books. The English audiobook narrated by Ray Chase is separately available on Audible.
Do you need to have read Blood, Sweat, and Pixels before listening to Press Reset?
No, though familiarity with Schreier’s first book enriches the experience. Press Reset stands independently as a work of games-industry journalism.
Does the book cover specific studio closures from the 2010s or does it address more recent layoffs?
The core material focuses on closures from roughly 2010 through the early 2020s, including studios like 2K Marin and Visceral Games. The underlying dynamics Schreier describes remain relevant to more recent wave layoffs at larger publishers.
How does Ray Chase handle the multiple interview subjects and their quotes in the English narration?
Chase does not attempt character voices for interview subjects; he reads their quotes in his own voice with subtle tonal shifts. This keeps the book feeling journalistic rather than dramatized, which suits the material.
