Video game professional Paul Tozour announces the release of his new book, The Four Swords: A Parable of Leadership, Video Games, and Dead Dragons. The book is scheduled for release early this summer and tells the story of four hardworking game developers that struggle with leadership issues and toxic work culture in their careers.
Through Paul’s engaging storytelling, The Four Swords spins a tale of leadership rooted in real world problems. Paul created his relatable characters from personal experience in the industry, and wants his book to highlight the importance of culture and values. The Four Swords aims to connect the practical view of characters to the outcomes that destroy many promising gaming studios. Particularly, Paul attempts to outline the role of leadership, good or bad, in the process.
All four main characters experience different struggles based on the studios and positions they work in. Through their journey, they learn how the core responsibility of leadership is to build culture based on values that drive positive outcomes. Their perspectives are interesting for any reader that has experienced toxic or negligent leadership. The Four Swords functions as an action-packed piece of fiction that’s also a fundamental guide to any professional aiming to enter the video game industry.
Paul wrote the book because no other material described how the industry truly worked, especially from the standpoint of values, culture, and illustrating how those impact organizational outcomes. Since he entered the field in 1994, Paul has seen studios crumble from the lack of understanding of culture and values, which is why he based The Four Swords on key principles that steer a company to success. His 28 years of experience offer useful lessons for future generations looking for the same change he is.
The Four Swords will also be distributed as an audiobook once it’s released. Paul wanted to distinguish the listening experience from other books, and selected nearly 40 voice actors to play his book’s characters. Each actor has a distinct voice and accent, making them instantly recognizable. Paul functions as the main narrator, but redundant narration has been minimized to leave the book feeling more like an audio play. To create a more immersive experience, Paul added music and sound effects, including introductory music to indicate setting. Overall, Paul hopes that the book can illuminate the bigger problem frequently occurring in the video game world.
“I want The Four Swords to instantly give new or veteran game professionals an added level of understanding to the problems faced in game development. I want my book to be a direct source to help debug and diagnose the problems employees are experiencing, that often stem from the management. By drawing parallels to repetitive outcomes in the real world, The Four Swords is an easy method to comprehend why values and culture in the workplace really matter,” said Paul Tozour, author of The Four Swords.
About Paul Tozour
Paul Tozour is a video game industry professional with 28 years of experience ranging from technical design, AI programming, creative director, and more. He is the author of The Four Swords and the founder of the video game studio Mothership Entertainment. Paul double majored in Computer Science and English for his Bachelor’s and completed an Executive Masters in Technology Management in a degree program at the University of Pennsylvania co-sponsored by the Wharton School of Business.
Media Contact:
Name: Paul Tozour
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