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Crunch has been an unfortunate aspect of the games industry for about as long as it's existed, as companies continually push developers to make release dates and deadlines without a care for anyone's wellbeing. A current member of the team behind Diablo 4 sees it as a harsh truth for smaller studios, whereas bigger ones are more likely to willfully lean into it.
Marcin Undak, lead engine engineer on Diablo 4, gave his insight during a conversation attended by GamesRadar+ at Digital Dragons. "I've been lucky to not crunch for a really long time now, since I joined bigger companies," he starts.
"I would say the difference is probably, in smaller teams, you are crunching because the company is on the verge of collapsing," he continues. "It's the matter of whether we release this game on time, or we all go home because we run out of money. That's not the case with bigger companies."
A combination of slim margins and wearing multiple does tend to increase the pressure for teams in the single figures. Shipping and maintaining releases of any shape or size is tough under those conditions, often generating an environment where crunch is possible.
It becomes less understandable when you're talking about huge corporations, like Rockstar and Ubisoft, with masses of resources, and it's still happening. That suggests another issue, as Undak says.
"Of course, you might still have a culture of crunch," he adds. "But I wouldn't say it's necessary, so those bigger companies can choose whether they want their people to crunch or not, because they have money to sustain themselves."
We are, thankfully, at a point where the practice is becoming less common culturally. More indie teams actively avoid overworking, and there's more understanding and unity among workers within the industry when it comes to challenging these norms. Alas, for now it's still occurring, but perhaps with enough people highlighting the problems, that won't be the case forever.
