You

Video Games are Serious Business (You)

You (Austin Grossman, 2013) is a techno-thriller novel based around a video game development studio in a rapidly-growing PC gaming market. I’m not sure what the techno-thriller genre is, but if this book is indicative it can’t be all that bad!

We follow protagonist Russell as he attempts to find work at Black Arts, a video game development studio founded by four of his school friends. Russell took another path but, at a strange crossroads of his life, decides to apply at the studio. One of the co-founders, Simon, was a genius programmer until he died in a (mysterious!) accident. The other co-founders are Darren, Lisa, and Don – they manage design, tools development, and the business side of things respectively. Hired at Black Arts as a designer, Russell soon discovers a game-breaking bug that may turn out to be more than it seems…

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