Gearbox Studio Isn’t a Crunch Studio According to Multiplayer Producer
Gearbox Software’s multiplayer producer of Borderlands 3, Chris Brock recently spoke with VG247 to promote the upcoming release of the new Borderlands while expressing the lack of crunch at the studio. While all employees are told to leave once their shift is done, some still remain to finish their daily goals but ultimately nobody is told to work ten or twelve hour days. Borderlands 3 releases on PS4, Xbox One and exclusively the Epic Games Store on PC which has caused some controversy.
During the interview, Chris Brock name drops Borderlands 3 level artist, Brad Sierzega. Brock mentions telling Sierzega to go home but remaining dedicated to the project due to the lack of remaining development time where every hour counts. Gaming development isn’t a sprint, it’s more of a marathon and many developers are burnt out by their bosses during crunch. We aren’t entirely sure what started the trend of shaming studios for crunching their employees but it’s a step in the right direction. While the Gearbox producers are discouraging overworking, some employees choose to put their own crunch hours in and that’s their own choice judging from this interview. Despite the other controversies surrounding the development of Borderlands 3, it’s good to see crunch won’t be an additional obstacle for Gearbox Software.
Gearbox lets their employees know that game development is a labor of love that’s also about striking a balance between life and work. “You do need to make sure that people take care of themselves, and you try to enforce work/life balance as much as you can, try to just plan such that it happens as infrequently as possible,” said Chris Brock.
Have you or a member of your family ever been overworked by an employer? What are some ways you balance life and work? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Gaming Bolt