While I understand some crunch culture is a true horror story of corporate coercion, I feel like the general concept of crunch is overly-vilified right now. As someone who works in the creative...
While I understand some crunch culture is a true horror story of corporate coercion, I feel like the general concept of crunch is overly-vilified right now. As someone who works in the creative field, I think it's rare to casually coast into a deadline when you're trying to make the best work you can possibly make. And at the highest levels of the industry, that's a culture that's as willfully self-inflicted by employees as it is demanded by employers. It's not ideal, and it can be very stressful, but I genuinely don't think you'll ever see it go away. And it's unrealistic to expect it to go away.
That being said, it's not a great look to proudly promise you'll never have crunch again and then promptly require it the following year. And excessive crunch should be scrutinized. But I think the real story here is hypocrisy rather than unethical crunch.
A lot of the controversy seems to stem from two positions: Company mandate (what's happening here) or lack of compensation (not what's happening here). It's not bad if the team decides "We'll need...
A lot of the controversy seems to stem from two positions: Company mandate (what's happening here) or lack of compensation (not what's happening here). It's not bad if the team decides "We'll need a week of all-nighters to meet deadline." It becomes an issue where there's a coercive force, in this case just a mandate from upstairs, saying "You'll do this thing that you likely would've done if you felt the need to."
That's fine if it's a few days or a week. But with the current culture of games development, it's months or years of it. It also puts those with families or children (especially single parents) at...
It's not bad if the team decides "We'll need a week of all-nighters to meet deadline."
That's fine if it's a few days or a week. But with the current culture of games development, it's months or years of it.
It also puts those with families or children (especially single parents) at a major disadvantage.
Exactly. That just seems like it would breed a corporate culture where there was a race to see who could give the most to the company. That seems like an extremely bad culture to be a part of.
Exactly. That just seems like it would breed a corporate culture where there was a race to see who could give the most to the company. That seems like an extremely bad culture to be a part of.
These last six weeks are our final sprint on a project we've all spent much of our lives on. Something we care for deeply. The majority of the team understands that push, especially in light of the fact we've just sent the game to cert and every day brings us visibly closer to shipping a game we want to be proud of. This is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make, but everyone is well compensated for every extra hour they put in. And, like in recent years, 10% of the annual profit our company generates in 2020 will be split directly among the team.
My last preorder was Spore, and then I broke that for Fallout 4, lesson learned. Even for CDPR I'm going to be waiting for the inevitable service pack/update that comes around in six months before...
My last preorder was Spore, and then I broke that for Fallout 4, lesson learned. Even for CDPR I'm going to be waiting for the inevitable service pack/update that comes around in six months before buying this game.
I remember the years of hype around Spore and how it would change video games forever. I can’t think of anything that matched it beforehand in terms of pure hype. Obviously it’s been surpassed now...
I remember the years of hype around Spore and how it would change video games forever. I can’t think of anything that matched it beforehand in terms of pure hype.
Obviously it’s been surpassed now just because video games as an industry are so much bigger than they were 15-20 years ago.
The bitch of it is, we were never given the game Will had planned. What we got was a simplified version that had far less content than was needed at every level, the rumor was that EA wanted it...
The bitch of it is, we were never given the game Will had planned. What we got was a simplified version that had far less content than was needed at every level, the rumor was that EA wanted it shipped and didn't care if it was his vision or not.
If you took Spore and really built out that concept, and had the last phase operate full on 4X like ES2 or Stellaris, that would have been a game for the ages. Perhaps someday we'll get someone willing to make a game that ambitious again.
Wait really? That’s...why would they do that? Why are they forcing a deadline they clearly can’t meet if they’re cutting features they touted so heavily?
Wait really? That’s...why would they do that? Why are they forcing a deadline they clearly can’t meet if they’re cutting features they touted so heavily?
They are, supposedly, leaving third person in "very occasionally" for cut scenes. But a lot of them will not be. My guess is any third person scenes that were done before they made this decision...
My guess is any third person scenes that were done before they made this decision are staying in, but the rest that were not, were scrapped because they were too much work.
Well, I imagine that the 3rd-person will be modded back in. Eventually. Hopefully. Maybe that' something they're counting on, and might try to add it later. Also, the only movement mechanic I know...
Well, I imagine that the 3rd-person will be modded back in. Eventually. Hopefully. Maybe that' something they're counting on, and might try to add it later. Also, the only movement mechanic I know of being removed was wall-running. I can imagine that really messing with places like the mega-apartment building they showed in the gameplay showcase.
Wow, a year? That would kill any dev team working that hard, and you'd get shit code to boot. I can understand a final sprint to quash the bugs, but making that business as usual means you need to...
Wow, a year? That would kill any dev team working that hard, and you'd get shit code to boot. I can understand a final sprint to quash the bugs, but making that business as usual means you need to hire more developers and testers.
Maybe they can just stop giving preemptive release dates, forcing teams to meet deadlines that usually only hurt the game and the employees in the end? I mean who is CD Projekt Red beholden to...
Maybe they can just stop giving preemptive release dates, forcing teams to meet deadlines that usually only hurt the game and the employees in the end?
I mean who is CD Projekt Red beholden to here to meet some arbitrary deadline?
A nice reminder that when it’s a choice between people or profits, corporations will choose profits, no matter what they’ve said in the past.
While I understand some crunch culture is a true horror story of corporate coercion, I feel like the general concept of crunch is overly-vilified right now. As someone who works in the creative field, I think it's rare to casually coast into a deadline when you're trying to make the best work you can possibly make. And at the highest levels of the industry, that's a culture that's as willfully self-inflicted by employees as it is demanded by employers. It's not ideal, and it can be very stressful, but I genuinely don't think you'll ever see it go away. And it's unrealistic to expect it to go away.
That being said, it's not a great look to proudly promise you'll never have crunch again and then promptly require it the following year. And excessive crunch should be scrutinized. But I think the real story here is hypocrisy rather than unethical crunch.
A lot of the controversy seems to stem from two positions: Company mandate (what's happening here) or lack of compensation (not what's happening here). It's not bad if the team decides "We'll need a week of all-nighters to meet deadline." It becomes an issue where there's a coercive force, in this case just a mandate from upstairs, saying "You'll do this thing that you likely would've done if you felt the need to."
That's fine if it's a few days or a week. But with the current culture of games development, it's months or years of it.
It also puts those with families or children (especially single parents) at a major disadvantage.
Definitely. The whole system of doing it would have to be built around not shaming those who can't, or simply don't want to.
Exactly. That just seems like it would breed a corporate culture where there was a race to see who could give the most to the company. That seems like an extremely bad culture to be a part of.
CD Projekt Red's response on Twitter
My last preorder was Spore, and then I broke that for Fallout 4, lesson learned. Even for CDPR I'm going to be waiting for the inevitable service pack/update that comes around in six months before buying this game.
I remember the years of hype around Spore and how it would change video games forever. I can’t think of anything that matched it beforehand in terms of pure hype.
Obviously it’s been surpassed now just because video games as an industry are so much bigger than they were 15-20 years ago.
Maybe Duke Nuke ‘Em Forever?
The bitch of it is, we were never given the game Will had planned. What we got was a simplified version that had far less content than was needed at every level, the rumor was that EA wanted it shipped and didn't care if it was his vision or not.
If you took Spore and really built out that concept, and had the last phase operate full on 4X like ES2 or Stellaris, that would have been a game for the ages. Perhaps someday we'll get someone willing to make a game that ambitious again.
basically every Molyneux game.
I think Spore was bigger than any of his games though. The Sims was such a massive hit that even non-gamers knew about Will Wright.
What features were cut?
Wait really? That’s...why would they do that? Why are they forcing a deadline they clearly can’t meet if they’re cutting features they touted so heavily?
They are, supposedly, leaving third person in "very occasionally" for cut scenes. But a lot of them will not be.
My guess is any third person scenes that were done before they made this decision are staying in, but the rest that were not, were scrapped because they were too much work.
Well, I imagine that the 3rd-person will be modded back in. Eventually. Hopefully. Maybe that' something they're counting on, and might try to add it later. Also, the only movement mechanic I know of being removed was wall-running. I can imagine that really messing with places like the mega-apartment building they showed in the gameplay showcase.
It's not ideal, but 6 weeks of crunch is a massive improvement over the reported year+ of crunch on Witcher 3.
Wow, a year? That would kill any dev team working that hard, and you'd get shit code to boot. I can understand a final sprint to quash the bugs, but making that business as usual means you need to hire more developers and testers.
Maybe they can just stop giving preemptive release dates, forcing teams to meet deadlines that usually only hurt the game and the employees in the end?
I mean who is CD Projekt Red beholden to here to meet some arbitrary deadline?