Crunch: Analysis of the phenomenon in the independent game development scene

Abstract

The games industry suffers from a mandatory unpaid overtime issue. This often takes place in the months prior to the game’s release or an important event, and it is referred to as "crunch" or "crunch time". Through a literature review, this paper investigates the widespread phenomenon of crunch time both in the AAA and the independent industry of digital games. We establish factors that influence this behaviour and provide examples of how it can affect the personal lives and mental health of the workers. We have also found that crunch is still an issue even with lone developers, and it is related to game development culture. This paper links a high incidence of the burnout syndrome and the low expectancy of time in the AAA industry—between 3 and 9 years (Cote & Harris, 2021)—among the video game workers to crunch. According to the IGDA, 42% of developers are subjected to crunch. We expect to shed a light on the issue and, by doing so, raise awareness about the unhealthy working conditions game workers are subjected to. We also hope that new and more realistic expectations can be created regarding independent game development, respecting the practice and its developers.