The discussion of crunch time in game development has taken numerous forms through various reports, studies, and was even touched upon during a panel at the recent Game Devs of Color Expo 2020. The logistics of crunch time and their place in game development are subject to debate, with some viewing it as a necessary evil in game development. Others, however, view crunch time as something that damages not only the employees working on the project, but the project itself along with it.
As games reach their final stage of development, extra time and resources may be allocated to the game’s final push to reach its release date rather than delaying the project. This results in what is called “crunch time,” a period of time where the development of a project is put into overdrive as the developers work longer hours to ensure it meets the release deadline. Larger game development studios have used crunch time in an effort to bring a project to its completion before it is released to the public.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
Shana T. Bryant, Senior Producer at Crystal Dynamics on Marvel’s Avengers, spoke on aspects of crunch time and their effects within a studio, with elements of crunch time culture being encouraged within particular studios. The culture of crunch time permeates into the development of video games, allowing developers to produce their games in time for their deadlines, often to critical acclaim. However, the physical and mental toll this added time of increased pressure takes on the workers can lead to burnout in the industry.
How Crunch Time Affects The Video Game Industry
One of the foremost aspects of crunch time is the enabling involved within game studios that results in crunch time being normalized during the development process. Bryant used an anecdote from her own experience, stating that when she was asked about how much overtime she would work, she answered by saying that she would work 24/7. While applauded as a good answer from the higher-ups, this answer was also a subtle signal of encouragement of the crunch time madness that engulfs game development. This becomes an added factor of stress to designers and developers in the long run.
With the added pressure to meet deadlines in the production of a video game, the enthusiasm becomes a tool to be taken advantage of by a studio. Combined with the abusive work culture within certain game studios, the effect of longer hours can result in more and more game designers leaving the industry entirely as the passion gets driven out of them one-by-one, leading them to find either a new career or an early retirement in the realm of video game development. Bryant mentions a statistic covered in the State of the Industry 2019: Mental Health in the Game Industry report that “only 1/3 of developers remain in the industry for 10 years or more,” with the average tenure lasting from three to six years.
Walt Williams, writer for Spec Ops: The Line, Star Wars Battlefront II, and Star Wars Squadrons, shared an excerpt from his book Significant Zero in which he goes into details of crunch time, its cost, and the effect it has had on his life and his well-being. His personal experience with crunch time offers insight into the damage it can inflict on the personal life of a developer, with Williams bringing up the specific toll he paid. In the excerpt, he states, “I let my health, relationships, and responsibilities fall to the wayside. When I finally come up for air, there’s a smoking crater where my life used to be.” In all of this, however, he emphasizes that it was the choice he made, and the way to cope was to continue working, creating a nigh-unbreakable cycle.
The damage crunch time does to the psyche of an individual spreads to their life outside of working in the gaming industry, with developers working 80+ hour weeks and sacrificing their lives outside of their project. An adverse affect of this added mental wear can lead to developers even suffering from PTSD due to the subject matter of their particular project. Due to the salary-based pay in the game industry, this added time is often done without additional pay to compensate the developers put in that position. Developers don’t have a lot of power in the way of saying “no” to crunch time, but there are aspects of re-defining the culture of the workplace.
Solutions to Video Game Design Crunch Time
A growing trend in the ever-present chase for the deadline is the conundrum of when the deadline never comes. As more games proceed to a free-to-play or a games-as-a-service format, the constant need to add fill the void with content has resulted in game studios working an exorbitant amount of hours, with some clocking in at 100+, in an effort to constantly keep their title flowing with a drip-feed of content. By spreading out the calendar and allowing the game more time to settle, this would also allow the developers to work at an easier pace. Bryant points out in her panel how this level of burnout even affects the product: by having a burnt-out, exhausted mind on the project, it can lead to bugs slipping through the cracks that may not have if the person wasn’t so overworked, leading to a sub-par product at launch.
In an industry focused on the chase of impending deadlines, the best way for studios to prevent putting their workers under the grinder of crunch time would be to ensure that the deadline is reachable without the excessive push toward the end of development. The extreme burnout is a contributing factor to developers leaving the game industry so quickly, resulting in many brilliant minds finding their passion driven and beaten out of them by the inordinate march for the nearest product line. By having their passion used to justify the long work hours, often with no extra compensation in any fashion, it serves as the fuel that burns the candle at both ends.
Independent game publisher Modern Wolf emerged onto the scene in 2019 with a promise to avoid crunch time, emphasizing the mental well-being of the developers under their banner as it related to the process of developing their upcoming titles. In doing so, Modern Wolf stands out in an era where crunch time becomes exceedingly too common, particularly from larger development studios. Game development studios being open to the mental distress that crunch time can cause will go further into de-weaponizing passion and converting it into uncompensated overtime hours.
The gaming industry as a whole continues to struggle with aspects of crunch time culture, although there have been improvements made across various studios as awareness spreads regarding the unfortunate circumstances under which many of gaming’s top developers release their titles. While it has been accepted as a normal course of the business, the normalizing of crunch time culture affects games not just now, but it affects the industry’s future as a whole, breaking down some of the industry’s brilliant minds and driving them into early retirement. It is an unhealthy industry where workers can be thrust into a willing retirement so quickly in an effort to avoid further damage, and perhaps a reexamination of the industry’s practices is long overdue.
Source: Polygon, State of the Industry 2019: Mental Health in the Game Industry
About The Author