Cyberpunk 2077 has Involved Months of Crunch, Despite Past Promises
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:
Cyberpunk 2077 has involved months of crunch, despite past promises:
Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most highly anticipated video games of the past decade, has already been delayed three times. Employees at CD Projekt Red, the Polish studio behind the game, have reportedly been required to work long hours, including six-day weeks, for more than a year. The practice is called "crunch" in the video game industry, and it is sadly all too common.
It's also something that the leadership at CD Projekt Red said wasn't going to happen to the people making Cyberpunk 2077.
[...] In January 2020, CD Projekt announced the game's first delay. [...] That same day, during a public call with investors, CD Projekt revealed that crunch would ultimately be needed to get the game done on time. It would also be mandatory for at least some employees.
[...] In September, Bloomberg reiterated what CD Projekt's leaders said to investors months before. A leaked email mandated six-day work weeks. Crunch had become a requirement, and according to anonymous employees, some developers had been working nights and weekends "for more than a year."
[...] But let's not sugarcoat it: Crunch is cruel. It is the result of poor management, and evidence of a disregard for the people working to make the games that we love to play. Crunch at this scale, and for this duration, casts a shadow over Cyberpunk 2077 - and actively undermines some of the progressive and cautionary themes no doubt present in the game itself.
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