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As we are continuously evolving as a human species, one would assume that we’ve gathered a certain amount of wisdom during our existence which would give us the ability to behave and think more rationally and prevent us from making same mistakes. Certainly when it comes to working more productively. But no. We evolved to that kind of species which is bound repeat mistakes and makeup reasons for it while we continue to do things the “hard way” and suffer from it which almost always includes making others around us suffer as well. With this “poetic” beginning and with the title above, one can almost guess what this is going to be about. We are embarking on the topic of the crunch time, so brace yourself cuz this is going to be a long one.

According to the Merriam-Websters dictionary there is no exact definition of crunch time, but the term is closely associated with other terms, or rather synonyms such as breaking point, conjuncture, emergency and/or crisis. In the game industry, or any other industry for that mater, that term defines the period of production where usually the most amount of work is done in the shortest period of time, and most often than not, it produces the most nerve wrecking atmosphere within your work environment. Therefore, we can all agree that this particular situation is best to be avoided at all costs. But the experience have shown that crunch time almost always find its way to manifest itself during production.

Recently, we had a chance to read that a lot of AAA companies use crunch time so often that a huge amount of game industry professionals are raising a concern about the pitfalls of game production during crunch time and its negative outcomes. A most notable example of this is recent “failure” of the EA/Bioware looter-shooter Anthem, which can be almost directly associated with a ridiculous amount of time spent in crunch time, according to the extensive Kotaku interview/report. Recently we could also read that even global battle-royal phenomenon Fortnite has been experiencing the same approach with their frequent updates. There are, w/o a doubt, other notable examples and companies out there that nurture this kind of production approach, and we are all asking ourselves, why?

Let us first pinpoint the problem. One would argue that implementation of the structured game production process is failing which then produces the need for extended work hours, a.k.a crunch time, and one would not be wrong, certainly in the case of the Anthem. But with the exponential growth in both financial and operational terms, the biggest problem that the game industry currently has is the demand. “The demand” of the new ways to entertain our minds and bring us joy in life, whether that is through new game titles or frequent content updates of the existing ones. “The demand” that comes with a huge amount of pressure to development teams, that when a particular title or developer reputation reaches certain magnitude, your next delivery must be flawless even if the studios are most likely understaffed. “The demand” that pushes newly formed indie developers to bleed out their eyes while trying to make that one brilliant and splendid game which is going to put them on the global game industry map. I could go on about the demand, but I believe you get the picture.

Now that we know that the crunch time is most likely the product of the demand, let us now reach to conclusion and find out when can we say that crunch time is morally or any other way justified.

Well, never if it puts a group or an individual in the state of deteriorating physical or mental health. There should not be even a discussion about it. But let’s be clear about this for a second. This is specifically tied to the cases where higher-rank individuals are pushing those below them to work extended amounts of hours in hope of reaching a certain milestone. Being one of those higher-ups in my previous company, I’m certainly guilty and could relate to the approach where I found myself pushing the team to finish a particular phase of the development. Although the situation was nowhere near serious to that of Anthem or Fortnite cases, still, it doesn’t justify the approach.

Even if you choose to compensate those who crunch with the solid amount of money, this shouldn’t be the rational thought behind the intent. One shouldn’t think “oh, I’ll just pay them more and everything will be fine”. There is only so much that person can put up with “for the sake of the money”. Much more serious case would be if one is counting on the “passion for the project” or “love for the industry”. One must keep in mind that in the large companies only five to ten percent of the entire work force actually loves the project that they’re working on. Those are usually project leads, game designers and/or game directors with additional staff. Others might not share the same passion as the “initial creators” of the project and usually are there just to pay the bills and/or build experiences and portfolios.

Exceptions, of course, almost always happen. There is no way that one can predict every step of production. Things need to be polished, pretty and should work as they’re intended, but if the crunch time lasts more than two weeks continuously(even that’s pushing the limits), you have to ask yourself, where did it went wrong and immediately steer the ship toward the port.

While this is the case in most big team productions, there are other cases slightly smaller in scale, but not in any way harmless. Some might say that the passion is the number one fuel in the game industry, but how much passion can one have before others (including yourself) starts to abuse it. You can already tell that I’m now speaking from the perspective of the smaller, or rather an indie team.

Most of the indies nowadays are doing game development part-time with a full-time job in other industry, if they don’t have some indie publisher/investor support in terms of finances or otherwise. In both cases, they are usually a team of individuals that are having a firm grasp of the vision for the game that they’re making. So one can assume that they are on the same wavelength and are sharing the same passion for the project as well as for the industry. But here as well, dark times of crunch tend to occur for various reasons.

Usually it is the cocktail of lack of the experience, bad internal structure, understaffed team, ridiculous deadlines defined publishers/investors and general procrastination. Whatever the reason might be, it tends to produce something that I call “crunch time out of passion” which is the deadliest kind of crunch time that exists. This one can literally put people in hospitals. I know, I’ve been there. Twice. “Where everything fails, your willpower prevails” someone once said. Those who are living by this are doomed to put risk to their well-being in the record time. These crunch times under the assumption that “you must give all you got if you love what you’re doing and you’re willing to succeed” are ridiculous, to say the least. So please people, be aware of your limitations and most importantly, do not let others “passion-guilt-trip” you into crunch even if it’s your best friend in question. If you’re exhausted, shut the production for that day. There is no price that will substitute your mental or physical well-being (If only would I take my own advice)

Would one now say that the crunch time is morally justified in these cases? Again, no! But in these situations, teams have much more control over crunch time, or rather much more control over the decision to implement crunch time even at the cost of their health, or just work around to prolong the “release date” in whatever form that might be. Again, exception do exist, but be absolutely sure that you’re aware of when to apply them.

To put an end to this unnecessary long chain of thought, here are some key takeaways for you to consider. “The demand” is less likely to go away any time soon, especially with the flood of new and innovative ways to play. While we are very aware of its problems, the crunch time is also less likely to disappear, but at least we can maintain it much more efficiently and make sure that we aren’t marching behind the crowd that is “rationally” justifying “crunch time culture”.

As you can see, there are really no “morals” of crunch time that would even remotely explain why would you jeopardize your health, even your career for the sake of some achievement. So be mindful of what you consider to be the “passion” and how much are you willing to risk for it, and above all your health.