Four friends meet a mysterious stranger with a robotic voice . . . and their lives are changed forever.

Working under industry legend Mickey Whitmore, Jake and Leo have spent the last two years developing a sequel to a successful shooter and role-playing game at Scrub-Liminal Studios in Austin, Texas. Meanwhile, Tim and Allison are working on a hugely anticipated new sci-fi space-exploration game at Green Gryphon Games on the outskirts of town under the eccentric leadership of Bentley Bartle.

The friends tell the robotic voice their riveting story of teamwork, ambition, struggle, tragedy, and office politics. The Four Swords: A Parable of Leadership, Video Games, and Dead Dragons is replete with extraordinary personal suffering and the clash of expectations and personalities. The Four Swords gives a unique and entertaining "in the trenches" take on how teams succeed or fail as the friends navigate their quest to achieve video game development greatness. Revealing the critical role of leadership and values, how values drive culture, and how culture drives outcomes, The Four Swords captures the rare point of view of hard-working video game developers doing everything they can to help their teams succeed.