With books inspired by video games, he wants to give young people a taste for reading

The futuristic cover on a black background sets the tone: the book Faille royale, released at the end of November, is aimed at an audience more naturally attracted to science fiction and video games than to reading The Red and the Black. And yet... The vocation of the publishing house of this book, DTC, is precisely to give its audience a taste for reading.

“With Royal Rift, I want to make the player relive the same emotions they felt when discovering Fortnite for the first time. This novel does not evoke the game itself but takes the reader back into the imagination that he had created,” explains its author Stéphane Pilet, also a YouTuber and streamer (who broadcasts his video game games live). The ingredients of the game that has become cult, with more than 250 million fans worldwide, are there: the strange island of Fortnite and its secrets which, during a breathtaking intrigue, Commissioner Maltèze, who went looking for from Sofia, Romain and Léo.

Its publisher David Téné, distributed by Eyrolles and on its site, is convinced: it can convert these young people to reading. A former journalist specializing in video games and teacher of the history of video games, the latter has been publishing guides and books on the subject for several decades. He decided to devote himself fully to his publishing house by refocusing on this type of novel. After Royal Battle, already inspired by the Fortnite universe, which was quickly sold out in 2018, and Obsidia, inspired by the world of the game Minecraft, this is the third work of the genre in its catalog.

His approach is enough to appeal to many parents who despair at seeing their offspring hanging on their game controller, without any taste for reading, too often seen as a school chore. According to the study devoted to “French people and reading” by the National Book Center (CNL), one in five young people aged 15-24 say they will not read at all in 2022 and 73% of 7-19 year olds mainly favor comics. and manga. Unsurprisingly, it is during adolescence that the dropout occurs, with “leisure” reading declining among all after the age of 12 and entering middle school, particularly among boys, where this observation is much more marked than in girls.

Himself not being a great reader of novels initially, David Téné can easily put himself in the place of these young people who are reluctant to read. Especially since he was recently diagnosed as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), just like his father and son. However, on this target, which is generally very captive for virtual universes, this approach is particularly conclusive.

Clinical psychologist François Vialatte experimented with young people he follows within the Institute for Practice and Innovation in Applied Psychology (Pi-Psy), based in Essonne, in the Paris region, where he is the one responsible. “A child’s brain reacts to short-term rewards, unlike that of an adult (in the long term),” explains the doctor of neuroscience. For an ADHDer, a person with mild autistic disorder or a “dys”, this is even more the case. The objective is to associate reading with pleasure rather than a constraint. But when I show them Faille royale, the book attracts them and they leaf through it. Because it is for them a window that opens, access to imagination. Children with neurodevelopmental disorders and video game addictions often have difficulty making friends, with social conventions or respect for hierarchy. But there, they enter directly into the author’s thoughts.” Parents still need to understand this. Because “this responds to a child’s need that they, who sometimes seek solutions with comics, do not necessarily identify,” adds the man who also conducts research in psychopathology within his institute.

Alexandre Jardin, founder of the association “Read and make people read” also strongly encourages the approach of David Téné, which he cites among the examples to follow in his next book, Make reading for dummies, to be published by First in January . “As soon as someone steps out of line to target an audience that we cannot reach, I kiss their feet,” he says. And to regret that “until now, we only listened to the scholars of the 6th arrondissement of Paris who have absolutely no idea how the population lives”. Hence the writer's participation in the McDonald's operation having distributed 105 million children's albums for years in its Happy Meals, despite his detractors. Because “Mc Do, present in areas without bookstores or hypermarkets selling books, makes it possible to reach a popular audience who would otherwise not have access to reading.”

“David Téné’s project flows naturally. His challenge today is to convince booksellers to list his books. However, the latter are more sensitive to traditional literature,” underlines Mathias Echenay, from the consultancy firm Axiales, specializing in publishing, who was a mentor to the entrepreneur when he was incubated at La Ruche, in 2022. “And when it is aimed at gaming communities, the latter feel distant from the world of publishing” continues the latter. In his eyes, “his challenge is to succeed in creating bridges between two very distinct universes”.

“I really believe in it. Above all, it needs to gain visibility and strengthen its communication,” adds Hugo Louessard, head of the h’up Académie program, who is supporting the publisher as part of its fifth promotion. David Téné is one of 18 entrepreneurs with disabilities selected, from around a hundred applications, to follow this program from the h’up entrepreneurs association. “When we organized an event with all our project leaders, a third of them saw in his approach a real interest for a loved one addicted to video games and said to themselves, about his latest book, “it “That’s what he needs for Christmas.” So much support and testimonials which show that this publishing house benefits from being known. For the happiness of parents and children alike.