Control Freak: My Epic Adventure Making Video Games
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Control Freak: My Epic Adventure Making Video Games Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 180 ratings
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The designer of Unreal and Gears of War offers an eye-opening personal account of the video-game industry as it grew from niche hobby to hundred-billion-dollar enterprise.

Video games are dominating the planet. In 2020, they brought in $180 billion dollars globally—nearly $34 billion in the United States alone. So who are the brilliant designers who create these stunning virtual worlds? Cliff Bleszinski—or CliffyB as he is known to gamers—is one of the few who’ve reached mythical, rock-star status. In Control Freak, he gives an unvarnished, all-access tour of the business.

Toiling away in his bedroom, Bleszinski created and shipped his first game before graduating high school and at just 17 joined a fledgling company called Epic Games. He describes the grueling hours, obscene amounts of Mountain Dew, and obsessive focus necessary to achieve his singular creative visions. He details Epic’s rise to industry leader, thanks largely to his work on best-selling franchises Unreal and Gears of War (and, later, his input on a little game called Fortnite), as well as his own awkward ascent from shy, acne-riddled introvert to sports-car-driving celebrity rubbing shoulders with Bill Gates. As he writes, “No one is weirder than a nerd with money.” While the book is laced with such self-deprecating humor, Bleszinski also bluntly addresses the challenges that have long-faced the gaming community, including sexism and a lack of representation among both designers and the characters they create.

Control Freak is a hilarious, thoughtful, and inspiring memoir. Even if you don’t play games, you’ll walk away from this book recognizing them as a true art form and appreciating the genius of their creators.

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    9 hours and 24 minutes
  2. Author
    Cliff Bleszinski
  3. Narrator
    Kurt Kanazawa
  4. Audible release date
    November 1, 2022
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster Audio
  7. ASIN
    B09TTQYR78
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 9 hours and 24 minutes
Author Cliff Bleszinski
Narrator Kurt Kanazawa
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date November 01, 2022
Publisher Simon & Schuster Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B09TTQYR78
Best Sellers Rank #24,174 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#146 in Video & Computer Games
#487 in Biographies of Celebrities & Entertainment Professionals
#656 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
180 global ratings
THE MOST AWESOME BOOK OF MY LIVE!
5 Stars
THE MOST AWESOME BOOK OF MY LIVE!
I DON'T HAVE WORDS TO DESCRIBE HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS PRODUCT... also it arrives with a lot of care. Highly recommended!
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Top reviews from the United States

Nick Puleo
5.0 out of 5 stars A look inside
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2022
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If you grew up in the 90s or early 2000s in PC gaming, this is a great read that gives insight to the rise of Epic Games, their franchises, and the direction the studio took that ultimately culminated with Fortnite. On top of that it's a deeply personal story from Cliff not only about the decisions made along the way, but how each one of those builds upon the previous. There's a bit of personal info revealed as well - props for putting it all out there.
2 people found this helpful
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Jason Doucette
5.0 out of 5 stars "Allegory of the cave" reality revealed. Read it now.
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024
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I could not put this book down. I read half of it in the first sitting, and lunchtime readings extended my lunches far too long. There are few books that reveal the pure ugly truths in their full glory. This is definitely one. (I can think of only one other: "One Jump Ahead" by Jonathan Schaeffer). It is a must read. It is refreshing. I am telling everyone to read it.

I have made games since extreme youth in 1982, was part of the demo scene, coding assembly and machine language demos in VGA, and even had ongoing chats with Tim Sweeney to bring my high-framerate tech engines to Epic MegaGames despite being surrounded by a world of misunderstandings that preferred I "stopped playing games". Cliff is my age, thus I cannot help but view his story as an alternate universe version of my own, with far too similar struggles, spot on analysis of the industry, the same flawed conclusions of what gaming has become, though ultimately finding a path to success. It is an amazing story.

P.S. I have to say, Mirage was my first, and most beloved, Transformer... and I loved Rad Racer. :)
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars It’s pretty good.
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2023
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It is pretty good but not great like Romero’s book. It loses a star because he couldn’t help himself and spouts off “orange man bad” and related silliness in spots. It is few and far between, but quite smug and cringey when it occurs. If you were at all into Unreal and UT back in the day though, his book is worth the money.
2 people found this helpful
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D. Lennon
5.0 out of 5 stars A genuine and fascinating deep dive into a video games “da Vinci-type “
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2022
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This book was far more than I expected going in. I’ve been a huge fan of Cliff for ages. I remember him selling me on Unreal Championship for the OG Xbox on a G4 round-table by saying (paraphrasing) “with the headset on and the controller in your hand, it just IS Unreal.” He was not wrong.

I had followed him on Twitter since close to its inception and understood his “off the cuff” nature of just his persona in general and expected more of the same from this book. That is not what this is.

Cliff had written a genuinely complex analysis of his experiences of how making games for a living has also molded himself in a strange-yet-obvious way. The relationship between creation and his own personal story is symbolic. Negative impacts on one aspect manifests negative results on the other and vice versa.

Cliff is also a far better writer than I had expected. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t expect a subpar book by any means. He managed to adapt to this type of writing environment far better than I had planned. Parts of the book read like a page turning thriller. Other parts tend to read with a lot of heartfelt emotion that got def didn’t expect going in from his “knee-jerk” public persona.

This is a must read for anyone that has ever enjoyed a video game… even if none of those games were Cliffy B games.
One person found this helpful
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Joseph J. Cassavaugh
5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal, Cover to Cover.
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2022
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I couldn't put this down. I read it from cover to cover in 2 days.

Can't think of any other book that gives this honest a look at what goes on at major Game Studios. And it focuses on the important stuff of how AAA games get made.

It contains some brutally honest (unflattering) details of his personal life, but it truly captures what it takes to design/create great games.

Just a fascinating read, start to finish.

It's a must read for all game-devs and/or aspiring game-devs.
2 people found this helpful
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Kris Blanchette
5.0 out of 5 stars It's been a great read
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2022
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I've played his games for decades and known his name but it's been pretty cool hearing his story. Even if I hadn't known about him, it's a good read. Do recommend
4 people found this helpful
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sebito91
5.0 out of 5 stars awesome history of a gaming legend
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2023
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Pure honesty through and through, really appreciated the stories. It’s really refreshing to read an historic account of one’s life with brutal honesty and holding nothing back, both good and bad times.
One person found this helpful
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J. Hanna
3.0 out of 5 stars Should be more like, "Heat".
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2023
This would sell more if it were like the movie, "Heat".
10 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Dan
5.0 out of 5 stars A page turner. Easy to read and really illustrates the humanity behind the art.
Reviewed in Canada on November 12, 2022
Verified Purchase
I struggle through a lot of books, but not this one. It was easy to follow, well-paced, and even offered a handy glossary for those unfamiliar with game industry terminology.

It was great getting a glimpse into the journey of this legendary game developer. Everyone starts somewhere! Inspiring.

Highly recommend!
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Peter
5.0 out of 5 stars A real page turner
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 13, 2023
Verified Purchase
It reads like you met cliffyb at a bar, whether you loved or loathed him, this is his story and he tells it with real candor. Its about a man who knows who he is, and was.

There are small insights into his process, about the business and what it can take to deliver a billion dollar franchise, good and bad. Upsides… wow, but it doesn’t come without personal sacrifice.

And then there are the big swings with Boss Key’s. Short, but sweet, it feels like there is a different book to be written if he ever chose to write it about this chapter and the period after. As someone with over 20yrs in the industry, I was nodding along to many anecdotes and smiled deeply at encounters with Hideo Kojima… who’s Metal Gear Solid was the reason I ended up making games too, for the same reasons Cliff defines late in the book… because we get a chance to remake the world.
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Peter
5.0 out of 5 stars A real page turner
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 13, 2023
It reads like you met cliffyb at a bar, whether you loved or loathed him, this is his story and he tells it with real candor. Its about a man who knows who he is, and was.

There are small insights into his process, about the business and what it can take to deliver a billion dollar franchise, good and bad. Upsides… wow, but it doesn’t come without personal sacrifice.

And then there are the big swings with Boss Key’s. Short, but sweet, it feels like there is a different book to be written if he ever chose to write it about this chapter and the period after. As someone with over 20yrs in the industry, I was nodding along to many anecdotes and smiled deeply at encounters with Hideo Kojima… who’s Metal Gear Solid was the reason I ended up making games too, for the same reasons Cliff defines late in the book… because we get a chance to remake the world.
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