Crunch
Ongoing coverage on Crunch.
Latest coverage
"There is a new narrative from haters," Off the Grid studio boss says of accusations Gunzilla haven't paid workers on time, claims full-timers' salaries "have never been delayed by more than a week"
Vlad Korolev, CEO of Gunzilla Games, has responded to accusations from former employees regarding delayed payments. Korolev stated that while contractors may have experienced payment scheduling issues due to cost optimization, full-time employees' salaries have never been delayed by more than a week over the past six years. He also defended the studio's intense work pace, comparing it to the development of a Call of Duty-scale project.
Portal 2 devs went through "nasty crunch" to get Valve's all-time classic out the door, partly because they kept "adding stuff" despite deadlines: "My wife was getting really tired"
Portal 2 lead designer Josh Weier revealed that the development team experienced "nasty crunch" due to continuously adding features despite looming deadlines. Weier mentioned that the intense work environment strained his personal life, leading to a temporary step back from the project near its completion.
OG God of War devs didn't expect the PS2 classic to take 4 years to make, but they "didn't know any better" and "crunched like motherf***ers"
Original God of War developers at Sony Santa Monica Studio did not anticipate the PS2 classic would take four years to complete, admitting to intense crunch periods due to youth and enthusiasm. While crunch is now largely discouraged, the article reflects on the extended development times of early titles compared to modern games and the ongoing discussion about work-life balance in the industry.
In an industry beset by layoffs and crunch, Japanese publisher Atlus is raising salaries and working to reduce fixed overtime
Japanese publisher Atlus is increasing base salaries for new graduates and raising the average annual income for employees by 15%. The company is also reducing fixed overtime hours from 30 to 20 per month. These changes aim to foster creativity, improve productivity, and provide employees with a more stable working environment.