Understandably, ‘crunch time’ in game development is that same process but spread out over hundreds of people and thousands of hours. That is a lot of overtime (that isn’t always paid) and it isn’t uncommon that developers miss key social experiences in order to finish the game, even for those in lower positions such as QA testers. It is a stressful time and many lament the process and what it does to their life. That is why a tweet from Ryse’s official Twitter has rubbed up a fair few developers the wrong way.
The tweet boasts:
‘Crunch time’ on just about any project, big or small is a near inevitability. Unless there is a set instruction manual and a very methodical way to achieve an early finish, no amount of planning will eliminate the ‘crunch’ entirely. That is largely because when you are crafting a project, especially a piece of art, it can never be 100% finished. There will always be ideas left to side that weren’t included, graphical or artistic tweaks to be made, multiplayer to be balanced, glitches to be ironed out, etc., and it’s been made worse by the advent of post-launch and day one updates and patches.
Crytek’s tweet boasting about its dinner quota has, of course, hit a legitimate nerve for game developers who have gone through multiple and extended crunch periods, involving high stress, hours wasted and missed time with family and friends. Some went as far to call the tweet “disgusting” and “abhorrent”. While many said that this crunch time was a sign of bad management from Crytek, others accepted ‘crunching’ as a part of the process but took umbrage at the boasting tweet.
What say you? Do you see the problem with having crunch time on a game? Do you think the tweet was misguided? Are some developers overreacting?
It won’t be long until we find out if those 11,500 dinners were worth it when Ryse launches with the Xbox One.
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Ryse is released on November 22, 2013 for the launch of the Xbox One.
Source: Twitter
