“Why I Abolished Crunch Time and Never Looked Back”
Crunch time culture has always affected developers, but only in recent years has it caught the attention of consumers. CD Projekt RED, 343 Industries, Naughty Dog, and Epic Games are just a few studios that have sometimes pushed their employees too hard. Rémi Racine, Behaviour Interactive CEO, decided that the developer of Dead by Daylight would no longer be part of crunch time culture. He recently wrote a blog about it. The blog is titled “Why I Abolished Crunch Time and Never Looked Back“. In it, he talked about what inspired the change, how he did it, and the benefits.
Racine begins with the moment he realized the problem, “Have you ever had a moment of pure clarity about your business when you feel in your gut that something fundamental must change? That happened to me one morning almost 20 years ago when I was hit by the sight of dishevelled employees groggy from another all-nighter. It wasn’t the first time they had worked through the night (nor would it be the last), but that morning I really saw it. I decided then and there that overworked employees putting their health and personal lives at risk would not be the foundation on which I built Behaviour’s success.”
Though some have disagreed with him, he does not regret his actions. “I’ve encountered team leads who depend on crunch time as a management tool. I’ve dealt with disgruntled employees who believe that crunch time is necessary for delivering competitive games. I’ve received calls from clients who are baffled that no one is picking up the phone at 9 pm. You know what? Since I enforced the no crunch time policy, I’ve never lost a contract or a client; never missed a deadline; never gone over budget and, most importantly, never stopped growing. What I’ve learned from this process is that a good quality of life makes everyone happier and more productive, and I want to be surrounded by people who are happy.”
You can check out his entire blog on Behaviour Interactive’s website.
Would you like to see more studios follow Behaviour’s lead? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Behaviour Interactive