Why Game Studios Are Looking To Avoid Developer “Crunch Time”

While developing video games sounds like a dream job to many, it has gained a reputation over the years as sometimes being a stressful and chaotic experience. AAA titles have tight deadlines to comply with the studio’s release schedule, which in turn puts developers under incredible pressure to complete their work by the release date.

Of course, game development takes time and creating the massive, sprawling worlds we’ve come to expect from premier releases is not a straightforward process. The artistic process of game creation is often at odds with the demands of video game publishers, who insist on sticking to a particular release date for updates or even entire titles. To meet these demands, developers often have periods of intense work that’s come to be known as “crunch time” or “developer crunch”.

Crunch time can simply be working a few extra hours to complete content before a deadline, or it can be a hazardous period of 80 or even 100-hour work weeks that leave little time for sleeping or even eating.

Situations like the latter have recently been reported by Epic Games employees who are constantly in crunch time to ensure that Fortnite’s frequent updates are completed on schedule. While some crunch might be inevitable near release dates, Fortnite’s perpetual updates have created an unsustainable work environment for the game’s developers who report constant pressure and high employee turnover.

As more and more game studio employees share their experiences with being overworked, some fans have even started to question if buying these games is ethical. On one hand, buying the games supports and validates the developers’ hard work, but also supports the studios who create unhealthy work environments and signals to them that developer crunch is an acceptable way to complete a game.

Luckily, some studios have recognized the negative effects that crunch has on its employees and have made more efforts to avoid crunch as much as possible. Notably, Nintendo recently announced that the upcoming Animal Crossing for Switch will be delayed until March 2020, stating that they want to ensure their developers can maintain a healthy work/life balance and that the creative process has room to breathe.

In addition to providing developers reasonable working conditions, the decision to delay Animal Crossing provides more time to explore creative opportunities and to fine-tune every aspect of the game, which can only make it even better. As Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto famously said, “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.”

Fans are naturally disappointed by this news, but have been understanding in the wake of so much press about developer crunch. Hopefully, more studios follow suit in prioritizing their employees over strict deadlines and crunch time will be minimized in the future.

Max Thielmeyer is an avid gamer and esports writer from Indianapolis. He’s a recent graduate from Indiana University with a degree in Informatics and is a writer for Indy Gaming League. To learn more about IGL, get in contact, or be involved you can visit https://www.indygamingleague.com/.