In recent years, the gaming industry has gradually moved away from the so-called crunch model, which involves an enormous amount of overtime over very long periods to meet game deadlines. Many developers have testified that this has harmed both their health and their relationships, as well as negatively impacted them in other ways.
One studio that has taken a lot of heat for this is Naughty Dog, which has been notorious for its crunch. Although they have taken steps to try to improve the situation, it seems that the crunch culture is here to stay. In a Kiwi Talkz interview, former Uncharted designer Benson Russel now reveals that the studio effectively accepted crunch as a necessity after The Last of Us and that the situation only got worse with every project:
"After The Last of Us, eventually it was an admission in the meeting. It was said, 'Well, we've just come to realize that this is what it takes to make games at our level'."
As recently as last December, we reported that Naughty Dog demanded heavy overtime for seven weeks after Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet missed a couple of milestones ahead of a Sony Interactive Entertainment presentation, which reignited the debate. Even then, according to Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, "some staff were wondering: If they're crunching now, what will next year be like."
How Naughty Dog handles this issue moving forward could be crucial for both the studio's reputation and future recruitment, especially as Intergalactic approaches its big launch.
Crunch thus remains a challenge. Ultimately, it often comes down to meeting deadlines versus more reasonable employment conditions; what's your take on the matter?