Crunch

Crunch and Game Development

Crunch is a period of overtime that can last between a few weeks to several months before a game's release. Crunch is a common occurrence in both AAA and indie game development. Although Crunch is voluntary, it is heavily encouraged that all developers participate in it.

Because of the creative nature of game development, some believe Crunch is an inevitable part of the Games Industry. Others believe that Crunch can be avoided with proper planning, decision making, and business flexibility. Either way, passion and business success are both key factors as to why Crunch occurs.

Reasons Crunch Occurs:

Over Promised

You made big promises to your fanbase through crowdfunding stretch goals. Developers Crunch in order to meet the release deadline and give fans everything that was promised.

Limited Funding

Developers Crunch from the start because the money raised from the crowdfunding campaign will only last for a specific amount of production time and the business can't afford extensions.

Changing Tools

Developers decide to change to a new engine, but the toolset is incomplete for the game genre they are making. Engineers have to make new tools as quickly as possible, while designers struggle to work with a buggy toolset.

Business Repercussions

If the studio does not meet the publisher's release schedule, then they may not be contracted again in the future.

Creative Differences

All throughout production, design and narrative are constantly changing due to creative differences and lack of a cohesive vision. Once design is set, everyone is scrambling to make a game before the release date.
Creative direction changes drastically midway into production. Much of the game is scraped and now more work needs to be done. Even with the extensions, developers are still Crunching all the way to the finish line.

Passion

Everyone in the studio is passionate about the project they want to prove to the rest of the world that they can make bigger and better games.
As a solo indie dev working on a project of massive scope there is no one holding you accountable for your work ethic. Through blind passion, you spend every waking hour working on the game.

Executives Making Creative Decisions

Business leadership imposes a new creative vision, leaving designers and engineers scrambing to implement these sudden changes.

Studio Turmoil

Some developers in a studio want to make a game that wasn't approved by publishers for production. This takes away resources for development of the approved project. Eventually, the publisher has to step in and stop the unapproved project. Now the entire studio is Crunching to meet the release deadline for the approved game.

Bugs and Instability

As the release date approaches, the team is working feverishly to fix every last bug.

Mass Negative Criticism.

On launch, the audience criticizes the game on multiple fronts and leave the development team dazed and confused. Developers Crunch to get new designs implemented as quickly as possible issues as possible to recapture the good graces of their fans.

Impacts of Crunch on Developers

Participating in Crunch often puts developers under a lot of stress and fatigue for weeks to months. The longer Crunch goes on, the greater the chances of burnout. Developers that experience burnout often need to take weeks of vaction time to recover. Sometimes, burnt out developers quit working at the studio they are employed at, and eventually seek out career opprotunities with a better work-life balance. More often than not, this results in developers leaving the Games Industry to pursue more stable and lucrative careers in the Tech, Finance, Insurance, and Marketing Industries.

Sources:

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
How BioWare's Anthem Went Wrong
The Human Cost Of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
How Fortnite’s success led to months of intense crunch at Epic Games
Former devs speak out about 'severe crunch' at Mortal Kombat studio
'We Were Working 100-Hour Weeks,' Red Dead Redemption 2 Head Writer Says, Then Clarifies
Wives of Rockstar San Diego employees have collected themselves
Video Games Are Destroying the People Who Make Them
The Dark Side of the Video Game Industry | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Netflix