Gamasutra - Not Everyone Feels The Crunch

[Following Gamasutra's recent, much discussed article on 'quality of life', we follow up with EA_Spouse colleagues and other industry execs with a clear message - crunch doesn't have to happen.]

Game developers know certain things are inevitable -- software bugs that need exterminating, for example. And schedules that invariably lead to excruciating crunch times.

But wait! Crunch - the bane of developers hoping for a superior quality of life - needn't rear its ugly head if the proper steps are taken, say some.

For instance, many studios that create serious games for military, medical, and governmental purposes have found a way to skirt crunch. And so have some companies that build more traditional consumer games.

Ken Yeast, the director of engineering at LA-based 7 Studios, recalls vividly what crunch was like at Electronic Arts where he managed the engineering staff for Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth.

In fact, one of his teammates was Leander Hasty, the man who put the "spouse" in "EA_Spouse," and whose experiences became legend throughout the industry via an open letter from his fiancée.

"Some people romanticize crunch and say it pumps you up and makes you feel exhilarated," Yeast says. "And that may be true, but only for short periods. It's akin to running. If you've been running at a pretty high speed, you can then sprint, but only briefly. In game development, if you're crunching for any period of time longer than a week or two, your productivity drops very quickly, especially in the quality of your work."

Indeed, nearing the end of the Rings project, Yeast and his team were doing the equivalent of long-distance running.

"Ironically, we had Labor Day off," he remembers, "which was something we had to fight for. And then we didn't take another day off until the product shipped 60-something days later. For two months we worked seven days a week, 12-14 hours a day. The attitude was 'just do whatever it takes to meet the deadline and don't give any excuses about not having the resources. We'll just keep piling resources on.'"

"But, of course, you can't just keep piling resources on. And the increased workload leads to mistakes that resulted in even longer work hours. That's just the nature of crunch. You're better off dialing it back and then you get a better product."

Fast-forward to 7 Studios today where, given Yeast's painful experience at EA, eliminating crunch is an extremely high priority. But, he says, you can't just say no to crunch and everything works according to plan. There are times when Yeast admits that he's not as successful at eradicating crunch as he'd like to be.

"We put a lot of effort into planning, into being dynamic, and being able to adapt to changes," Yeast explains. "But most important is to watch for the consequences of your decisions and understand them."

"At EA, higher-up management wanted a very high level of delivery without seeing the consequences of some of the decisions they were making. If your people are suddenly working extra hours, find out why. What is the mechanism that's broken?"

Yeast is a firm believer in post-mortems. "After you finish a milestone or the delivery of a game," he says, "analyze what went right and what went wrong. That's a great strategy for catching the problems that cause crunch."

Comments

Henk Hopla

3 Jul 2008 at 7:16 am PST

Great article!

For me it hits the 'nail on the head'. I've been at a large studio for years and it was pretty much as explained in this article.
1/3 of the studio plays 'fuss-ball' for at least an hour a day and takes 2 hour lunches and takes it 'very easy' the rest of the time.

That result in a lot of crunch time for the entire studio.

Those who try to keep an efficient, active 9-5 work schedule and don't slack of as much get hurt by it.

I don't think management in large studios has any clue about this phenomena. Or at least the entire studio gets put into crunch.

So I personally like the attitude of Relentless Software of sticking mostly to work during working hours and therefor being able to have a normal 40 hr work-week.
This will actually result in more free (family/friends) time in the long run.

Fernando Angelico

3 Jul 2008 at 7:32 am PST

I remember my firsts crunchs, it was cool ,sleeping on the office , 12-14 hours ,6-7 days a week, was fun... until it became standard, and every month we have one week of crunch, thats affected my and my coworkers health.
Sadly of 12 programmes ,10 resigned (myself include) in less than a year.
Great article

tom newman

3 Jul 2008 at 10:29 am PST

I am a freelance sound designer with 18+ years of experience. My 2 passions in life are audio and videogames, and the only reason I am not working full time in the industry is because of the situations stated in the articles above. I have several close colleagues who do have full time jobs with major developers and hear their grief regarding these issues on a regular basis. I currently work a full time sales job making significantly more than I would in the game industry, with no mandatory overtime or weekends, living in Michigan, where the cost of living is much less than where I would need to relocate. Unfortunately my audio work has temporarily shifted to a hobby as a result.
It is very encouraging to read these discussions, and hopefully there will be some changes in the future. I know too many taltented people who have left the industry. One of my best friends went from working as a programmer for a major game developer to working on proprietary software for business applications, making more money, with better hours/benefits.
Better working conditions will attract more talented people, which will result in better quality titles, with better overall sales results, it seems like a win for everyone.

David McGraw

3 Jul 2008 at 3:09 pm PST

Great Article!

Yeah, as an to-be entry-level candidate, QOL standards are the biggest concern for me. I worked 15+ hour days in the Military for months on end. Those days are over, and I really couldn't care to bring that into my next phase of life.

Matt Benic

4 Jul 2008 at 5:01 am PST

Having worked on both sides (serious/simulation and commercial game dev) I can promise you the serious side isn't immune to lousy planning and the resulting crunch. The key always has been and always will be proper planning and prioritization.
What the guys at relentless have fixed is a fundamental flaw in game dev (and many other industries) and I applaud them for it. The 'fun at work' driven primarily by single employees almost always has a negative long term effect on everyone, including the family guys that try to maintain the discipline during actual working hours to avoid overtime. Yes I know it's a generalization, but it's very often the truth.

Steven An

6 Jul 2008 at 7:38 pm PST

It'd be great to hear what project/process management techniques work/don't work for those who have managed to avoid crunch.

I suppose getting rid of "fun at work" is a huge one...hmm, I guess blocking Youtube was not a bad idea (though we still crunched like mad!)

Jeppe Moller

7 Jul 2008 at 7:12 am PST

Yes, nice article. But where are the comments for all those that apparently praise the crunch? Something must be wrong in this article - or the crunching would be history? No cons for crunching?

Geoffrey Chandler

13 Jul 2008 at 12:01 pm PST

Why is it that every-time I read an article talking about hours/crunch/labor practices in the videogame industry, I feel like I am reading a therapy transcript?

If we talk about it, it will get better right?

Every-time I read an article talking about hours/crunch/labor practices in the videogame industry, I feel like I am reading a therapy transcript?

If we talk about it, it will get better right?

Wrong, avoiding crunch takes discipline of financial planning and discipline of management. It takes project management that spends the time to pour over employee output and project progress data. In order to properly schedule a project, one needs to determine how much work there is, and how long it will take.

Obtaining accurate values for how much work remains and how long it takes do not spawn from "tribal experience" or "years in the industry." They are generated by spending a considerable amount of time and effort evaluating the skills and work styles of your employees, looking at process, identifying bottlenecks, and reigning in and anticipating "customer fastidiousness."

I feel that a big reason that progress towards elimination of crunch is spotty at best has to do with the fact that many mistake it for hard work. If put in my time down in the trenches I can wear it like a badge of courage then expect the same later in my career from those that I manage.

I challenge you to look at it in a different light. You are not working your employees hard, you are increasing fixed overhead, reducing employees time with their families (often a great source of inspiration for ground breaking ideas), and you are increasing turnover.

Maybe run the numbers for you last project and see what they look like if you eliminate overtime, after-hours electricity, food orders, and comp-time.