In the video game industry, crunch (or crunch culture) refers to required extra hours worked during the development of a game. Crunch is common in the industry and can result in work weeks lasting 65–80 hours for long periods, often without additional pay beyond regular hours. This practice helps companies save money because game development requires a lot of effort. However, it causes health problems for developers and reduces the quality of their work, leading some to leave the industry temporarily or permanently. Critics say crunch has become normal in the game-development industry, causing harmful effects for everyone involved. The lack of unions among game developers is often cited as a reason crunch continues. Groups like Game Workers Unite work to stop crunch by ensuring studios respect developers' labor rights.
Description
"Crunch time" is a period when a game development team is believed to be struggling to meet goals needed to release a game on schedule. The complexity of creating games, reliance on work from outside companies, and the challenges of meeting artistic and design goals make it hard to predict when milestones will be reached. The use of crunch time is also seen as unfair to the younger, male-dominated workforce in the video game industry, many of whom have not yet started families and are eager to advance by working long hours. Evan Wells, co-president of Naughty Dog, explained that some developers may choose to work extra hours on their own to ensure their work meets deadlines and is high quality, which can influence others to do the same or avoid taking time off to avoid appearing lazy.
Because crunch time often results from both company practices and peer influence, the term "crunch culture" is used to describe environments in video game development where crunch time is common rather than unusual. This culture focuses on completing tasks quickly and well, often at the expense of work-life balance or personal health. Many problems linked to crunch time are caused by this widespread culture. In some companies, leadership proudly shares examples of employees working 100-hour weeks as proof of their dedication to meeting deadlines.
Some studios use crunch time over long periods, not just near a deadline. This practice is called a "death march" and is especially harmful. For example, Rockstar Games experienced a death march during the final six to nine months of developing Red Dead Redemption 2 in the 2010s. Similarly, the development of Metroid Prime lasted nine months of intense work. Core Design, a game studio, closed due to its extreme crunch policy, which involved years of long hours. Developers who experienced death marches reported sleeping at their workplaces, not seeing their families for months, and losing significant weight.
Surveys from the 2000s showed that more than 60% of game developers worked at least 46 hours a week. During crunch time, workweeks often reached 60 to 80 hours, or even 100 hours or more. This trend continues today, with developers working 12 to 14 hours daily for seven days a week during crunch. Major games like Fortnite and Red Dead Redemption 2 were created under such conditions. At BioWare, the term "stress casualty" was used to describe employees who disappeared for months due to the stress of crunch. At Telltale Games, one employee worked until 3 a.m. the night before being laid off with over 200 others. The intense workload is partly linked to the shift to a microtransaction model, where games are free but players pay for extra content, requiring constant updates to keep players engaged.
A 2019 survey by the International Game Developers Association found that 40% of developers experienced crunch time in the past year. Only 8% received extra pay for their overtime hours. In the U.S., computer professionals earning above a certain salary are exempt from overtime laws, allowing companies to avoid paying for extra hours. This salary varies by state, but in California, software developers are protected by a minimum hourly wage for exemption, set at $36 per hour in 2008. Contracts between studios and publishers often set strict budgets and deadlines, and overtime exemptions allow studios to push developers to work longer hours without exceeding budgets.
Studios also hire cheaper contract workers who are not guaranteed overtime pay. These workers hope for full-time jobs or bonuses after a game’s release, but these are not always provided.
During crunch time, some companies provide "crunch meals" delivered to offices to support employees. After a project is completed, some companies offer paid time off, raises, or bonuses as compensation for overtime.
A 2019 study by Take This found that 53% of developers consider crunch time a normal part of their jobs. This is partly because many have experienced it before. Crunch culture has become so common that Dan Houser, co-founder of Rockstar Games, openly described employees working 100-hour weeks to finish Red Dead Redemption 2, a statement that drew public criticism.
The gaming community can also contribute to crunch time, sometimes unintentionally, by creating excitement for new games or sequels. Alexey Izotov argues that some developers promote this culture by promising features they cannot deliver and failing to communicate clearly with players. High expectations for games make it harder for developers to meet deadlines, pushing them to work harder. In extreme cases, fans have sent death threats to Cyberpunk 2077 developers over delays.
Some developers choose to work extra hours even when crunch time is not required. This can be driven by a desire for perfection or a sense of responsibility to complete projects. Seeing coworkers stay late can also motivate developers to do the same. Crunch culture reinforces this by linking past successes to crunch time.
Management often describes crunch time as a "necessary evil." In a 2017 article, Marcin Iwiński, CEO of CD Projekt RED, described video game development as "hard-core work," explaining that meeting deadlines is difficult due to the time required for basic tasks.
History
Crunch time has been used in the video game industry since the 1980s, though it was rarely talked about publicly. This practice began with a focus on creating physical game discs, which required strict time limits. Developers needed to finish games by August to prepare for holiday releases. Video game developers were often paid more than average, and because the industry is closed and reputation is important, few left even if working hours were long. These conditions made long hours common at larger studios. As the industry grew, developers were considered white-collar workers, meaning they were not required to receive extra pay for working more than regular hours. This was especially true in California, where many studios were located. Workers earning more than twice the minimum wage were not eligible for overtime pay.
In the 1980s, Atari wanted to release a version of Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 quickly. Programmer Tod Frye worked 80 hours per week for six months before the game’s March 1982 release.
id Software faced very long working hours in the 1990s. John Romero described their schedule as “10 AM until we were done.” The founders, John Romero and John Carmack, had previously worked from 10 AM to 2 AM at Softdisk due to tight deadlines. Games were sent to magazine subscribers monthly, which required an intense schedule called “the death schedule.” Even after leaving Softdisk, the team continued working on their own projects in the evenings and weekends. This intense schedule continued even after id Software became independent. Crunch was common at id, but it became required during the development of Quake. The studio followed a 12-hour workday, seven days a week, from December 1995 to June 1996. Though the game was successful, the process led to the original team dissolving. Rebecca Heineman was given 10 weeks to create a 3DO version of Doom for Art Data Interactive. She said the short time was because the company underestimated the work needed to make the game.
In the United Kingdom, Core Design had extreme crunch policies in the 1990s. Jeremy Smith said developers worked 15 hours a day, seven days a week on Tomb Raider (1996). A deal with Sega to release the game on the Saturn six weeks earlier than other consoles worsened the situation. Developers worked until midnight, and testing happened during the early morning hours. Project producer Troy Horton described waking developers by throwing rocks at their windows to fix bugs. This happened for many years on multiple projects. Burnout led to a new team being used for Tomb Raider III (1998). This team also burned out and ended the Tomb Raider franchise by killing Lara Croft in Tomb Raider IV (1999). Core Design continued making games this way, but quality dropped. This led to the poor reception of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (2003), which caused Eidos to move the franchise to Crystal Dynamics and shut down Core Design.
In 2000, California added a rule for overtime exemptions for computer-related jobs, raising the minimum salary to about $85,000 per year, which was higher than the average developer salary of around $61,000 at the time. The U.S. federal government later created a similar rule.
Changes in California’s laws caused debate in the industry. Two lawsuits were filed against Electronic Arts (EA). One was from artists who worked on The Sims 2, claiming they were forced to work overtime without pay. Another was from Erin Hoffman, who posted anonymously as “EA Spouse” in 2004, describing her husband’s long hours at EA. A 2004 survey by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) found that less than 3% of developers did not work overtime, and nearly half did not receive pay for it. EA settled the lawsuits, paying $15 million to employees by 2006 and reclassifying some workers as hourly employees eligible for overtime, though they lost stock options. These cases led to more discussion about crunch culture.
In 2008, California changed labor laws to keep high-tech industries in the state. The minimum salary for computer-related jobs was lowered to $75,000 per year, which was below the average developer salary at the time. The laws also defined which job duties were exempt, covering most game development roles. This made it harder for workers to challenge crunch time legally.
More attention was drawn to crunch conditions in January 2010 when a group called “Rockstar Spouses” criticized Rockstar San Diego for poor working conditions for their partners since 2009. Former employees also shared similar complaints. The IGDA said Rockstar’s conditions were harmful and exploitative.
Virginia McArthur, a game executive at Endless Studios, said that as games moved to digital formats in the 2000s, studios spent less time on physical copies and more on testing, briefly reducing crunch. However, the rise of free-to-play games led to rushed products with tight timelines, requiring intense crunch to compete.
Since the early 2010s, some companies have tried to reduce crunch. However, reporters noted little progress after the “EA Spouse” controversy. A 2014 IGDA survey found that while average hours worked had decreased since 2004, 81% of developers said they had experienced crunch in the past two years. About 50% believed crunch was expected as part of the job. In 2004, 35% worked 65–80 hours per week; by 2014, 35% worked 50–65 hours. A 2019 survey by the Game Developers Conference found that nearly half of developers still experienced crunch.
Effects
Crunch can lead to burnout, which has bad effects on both teams and individuals. Burnout happens when someone becomes tired or loses interest in their work. It can reduce how much work gets done and, in some cases, cause mental health problems like depression, anxiety, or panic attacks. A 2016 study by Open Sourcing Mental Illness found that 51% of workers in the technology field have been diagnosed with a mental health condition by a professional. These conditions may include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, ADHD, PTSD, or OCD. Of those 51%, 80% believe their mental health issues affect their work. Some people also report that crunch has caused memory loss or stomach problems like ulcers.
Several popular video games, such as Fortnite, Fallout 4, and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, were developed during periods of crunch. These games became very successful and received strong praise from critics. However, other games that avoided crunch during development, such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Apex Legends, Don't Starve, and Hades, also achieved commercial and critical success.
A study by The Game Outcomes Project found that mandatory crunch was linked to less successful games, using Metacritic scores as a measure of success. The study showed that factors like focus, teamwork, and a clear vision were more important than long hours of work in determining a game’s quality. This led to the conclusion that crunch might lower the quality of games rather than improve it, and could lead to worse results over time.
Bugs in the game Fallout: New Vegas at its release were caused by a short production schedule forced by the publisher, Bethesda. This led to a difficult crunch period for the development team. Poor game quality and performance cost the developer, Obsidian Entertainment, a $1 million bonus that was tied to how well the game was received by critics. Some insiders say the short deadline and bonus conditions were designed to avoid paying the bonus.
During the development of Overkill's The Walking Dead, crunch at Starbreeze Studios and Overkill Software had a negative effect on the game. The final product was criticized for its poor quality and gameplay, and both studios faced financial problems.
Because crunch reduces game quality, studios may suffer long-term consequences. The shutdown of several studios has been partly linked to crunch.
In other industries
The term "crunch" is also used by journalists to describe overtime work in other entertainment fields, such as animation and visual effects.