One Up by Joost van Dreunen Summary
Overview of One Up
Dive into gaming's business evolution with "One Up" - the industry bible praised by Tencent's Ben Feder as "required reading." Van Dreunen reveals how three transformative eras reshaped entertainment, making this the essential playbook for understanding why games now dominate modern media.
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Key takeaways
When a Blue-Haired Gamer Broke the Internet and the Genius Myth That Built an Industry
In 2018, something strange happened on daytime television. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, a 27-year-old professional gamer with electric blue hair, sat across from Ellen DeGeneres explaining how he'd just played Fortnite with Drake in front of 600,000 live viewers-and made millions doing it. Ellen looked genuinely confused. "So people watch you play video games?" she asked, her tone suggesting she'd just discovered a new species. Traditional media executives shared her bewilderment, but Ninja's appearance marked something profound: gaming had evolved from basement hobby to cultural juggernaut, generating more revenue than Hollywood and music combined. Yet despite this meteoric rise, the business machinery powering this transformation remains remarkably misunderstood-even by many inside the industry itself. Gaming suffers from a peculiar blind spot. Wall Street analysts dismiss it as kids' stuff. Meanwhile, industry insiders often romanticize creative purity, resisting business analysis as if profit and artistry can't coexist. This mutual misunderstanding has left even billion-dollar investors surprisingly ignorant about how gaming actually works. Consider the carefully crafted myth of the lone genius developer-a narrative deliberately manufactured by Trip Hawkins at Electronic Arts in the 1980s through his "Can a Computer Make You Cry?" campaign. By positioning game designers as auteurs like film directors, EA created compelling marketing. But this story obscures a messier reality: even celebrated indie creators rely heavily on publishing deals, marketing expertise, and financial backing. Super Mario didn't emerge purely from Shigeru Miyamoto's imagination-it resulted from navigating technological constraints, market timing, and Nintendo's strategic business decisions. Companies like Valve, Supercell, and Nintendo succeeded through sophisticated platform control, data-driven design, and innovative distribution as much as creative brilliance. The industry's self-imposed divide between "creative" and "business" people has become counterproductive. Financial limitations aren't creativity's enemy-they're design challenges, like screen size or processing power.
From Arcade Corners to Everywhere and the Old World of Products on Shelves
The Great Disruption and the Free-to-Play Revolution
Beyond the Lone Genius and the Battle for Intellectual Property
GameStop's Ingenious Economics and the Shift to Digital Dominance
Innovation Patterns and the Multiplayer Future
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From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
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"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
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