Why Crunch needs to get in the bin.

If Crunch was a person, they’d be the kind that plays their shitty music on the bus, while we all sat there tutting and not saying anything about it.?

It would be tinny speaker'ed (yes I invent words) mumble rap too, accented perfectly with the huffs and puffs of everyone forced to listen to it.?

The music player would insist they were doing no harm, and that they are part and parcel of life now so you should just get over it.?

Yet have you ever been on a bus without some douche canoe blaring their specific brand of auditory assault out of a cracked i-phone?

It’s pure bliss.?

"You know what this peaceful ride needs?

N-Dubz."

Pockets of a world without game crunch exist.

So how can we eliminate it entirely?

What is "Crunch?"

First of all, if you’re asking this I’m happy for you, you’ve probably never had to go through it.?

Crunch is the practice of forced or “optional” overtime in game studios in order to hit a deadline, milestone, or just get the game out.

"Please just a couple of hours a week for a few months?"

This practice leaves everyone who works for the studio (that’s everyone from people who make stuff look good to people who make stuff play good) mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted.?

Which as we all know are the three things you should definitely abuse in return for an ‘amazing’ quality of work, life, and outlook on the industry in total.?

Luckily, the games industry benefits from some of the most supportive and understanding customers EVER*. So any mistakes because of this exhaustion are totally forgiven by them.?

*Oh wait, some of them actually send Game Devs literal death threats which in case anyone didn't know. Is never acceptable.

Why does it happen?

It can be any number of things.

Maybe the studio just doesn’t have enough staff to fulfill the needs of the project.

Perhaps the process wasn’t as efficient as it could be, and so timelines were missed.?

Or things were over-promised and now you’re at risk of under-delivering and suffering the ire of Reddit, Twitter and five weeks later Facebook.?

But ultimately crunch happens because the decision-makers choose to invoke it at the cost of their staff well being.?

“I didn’t plan for this *eyes up the workforce and 24-hour clock*...or did I?”

And it’s a price that game dev history has shown us, they’re all too happy to pay.?

Why is it bad?

Because whatever way you try and spin crunch.?

IT DAMAGES THE WORKERS.?

Working long hours consistently has continually shown that the quality of work plummets.?

Mistakes are made, things are missed and when the game ships, those mistakes will be in the game until a 5 hour day zero update is applied.?

This also eats into the employee's work/life balance.?

If you’re in work mode constantly for a long period of time, that is going to affect relationships, time for self-care, chores, hobbies, and all the other aspects of our life that are literally just as important for a healthy human as work.?

This could lead to resentment from employees who might start looking elsewhere for a job (that’s where I come in) because their stress levels are so high, work problems bleed into their home life and home life stress will bleed into how they work.?

Crunch damages everything to do with that employee's life.?

This lady just read “no crunch” on a job advert.

Doesn’t Crunch have benefits?

Sure, if you look at it from a business perspective.

The game is usually defined as complete by the release date so deadlines can be met.?

Extra pay is always a good thing for employees too, as is extra annual leave which is sometimes given in recognition of a crunch.?

But you have no guarantee that a crunched game will actually be any better for it, whereas more time invested in creating and testing the game will make it better.?

For some employees, the extra pay isn’t just nice to have, it could be a necessity. Particularly if you’re at the more junior end of the scale with an expensive city to live in, rent, bills, student debt, and everything else we need to pay for these days.?

And extra holiday??

Well, consider this, if you’re crunching a title to get the game out on time. Will there even be time to take your statutory holiday alongside any extra in your management’s eyes?

“I can’t update slack on THIS”

What can be done?

Well, studios need to make sure they have the resources in place to:

A) Be able to deliver on all tasks required for the game.?

B) Hit milestones and release date on time.?

With the right headcount and the right specialisms, studios shouldn’t then be in a position to enact a crunch.

To keep the amount and work disciplines in check, effective project and people management is an absolute must to keep everything on track and moving toward the ultimate goal.

Finishing and releasing a really good game.?

If studios are struggling to find the right people, then they should consider all of the angles.

Are salaries too low compared to their competitors?

Is the fact hours are set in stone or that dedication to a physical location at some point when we’re not facing a pandemic scaring people off??

Or are you asking for a completely ridiculous set of skills that no human being could possibly be expected to have and if they did, would probably start their own studio?

One of the first steps to avoiding a crunch involves management taking a VERY honest look at all the parts that make up the whole.

Because I guarantee there will be areas of improvement, and fixing those now, will save a whole load of pain later.?

For studios, and their staff.?

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Are you stuck in a Crunch and want to work somewhere that is against it?

Message me, I'll help if I can.