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"Sir I noticed Jessica's desk is covered in white powder and she physically cannot stop moving." "She's taking multivitamins. It puts pep in her step."
Kid Shadow Except that it has at points. I'll agree that if that crunch time lasts for years then yes it doesn't work. If it's for a few months, there have been many games that have turned out great and had crunch time (even tho I don't like it, most people do, L.A. Noire was critically acclaimed and beloved even tho it had bad crunch time). Sometimes crunch time DOES work and it IS necessary to the industry. It sucks but it really is inevitable. In the indie industry, with teams of like 2 or 3 people, there's crunch time. Now all of this being said, I'm not against unions in the industry, but I am against the belief that crunch time is bad at all times.
Hey, Dan. Remember a couple weeks ago when a bunch of information came out about how badly Telltale's employees were being exploited? Remember how everybody was sympathetic to their plight and it started a big discussion over corporate mistreatment in the games industry? Remember that? It wasn't very long ago, Dan.
"We don't expect anybody else to work this way." GOD, I never worked Q/A but that statement feels like your superior manager putting their hand on your shoulder being that passive-aggressive shit that's sarcastically telling you it's fine to leave ON TIME AS CONTRACTED, but good luck having a job after you leave that door.
What really did it for me it was the wording of “we don’t force anyone to work hard.” lol, “work hard” in that context implying that, from his perspective, the only way to work hard is to work long hours rather than like. working more efficiently/thoughtfully
MegaTyler93 I do see the correlation but the balance between work quality vs work quantity is just something I’ve had to be especially mindful of. Most people wouldn’t have a problem up to a certain threshold but I have a chronic illness.
All the gamers on reddit and forums saying "Oh who cares?" or "They should stop being lazy and deal with it" (I've even seen people say it's "communist propoganda" like what?) have DEFINITELY never had a full-time job in their lives.
Theyve never had a lot of things in life, its why theyre getting so defensive and offended over someone criticizing a corporations shitty work schedules
Not gonna lie some of those people probably do work fulltime and they just take it as normal. Some people see killing yourself at work as a good thing, I've worked with people pulling 15 hour days because they "had to get it done".
I have a full time job and am in that camp. I don't think they're lazy but I will say they voluntarily got into their line of work. Crunch time has been a thing for decades so there's no way they wouldn't have known it was a thing. If they can't handle, they should leave the industry or stop complaining and deal with it.
the simple truth is they're in a bourgoise industry doing what they love and with low market value because everyone wants to do it. I'm not saying they deserve to be worked like slaves but we should stop treating them like they can't know any better. They're working there because they want no, no other reason. No one on earth stumbles into a job writing for rockstar because they have no where else to turn and they'll starve on the street if they don't write good characters. That's ridiculous.
They later specified that the only people who were working 100 hours were 4 people on the senior writing team, of which Dan was included. Also that the overtime only lasted 3 weeks.
Crunch time a.k.a. Why every Tripple A game has a day one patch. But hey, it's a digital only age so who cares if you get a full game at launch? Or ever?
You know I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you don't know much about actual game development. About how review copies are sent out and what actually happens when a game goes "gold" or how consoles update their firmware or all the work that goes into a game when it is shipped out but before it reaches street date. But that's OK, you don't need to know. It ain't your job.
@@PolarPhantom mmm, give me more of it Miserably smug condescension while still not giving the people you were talking to any sort of information or encouragement to search it out and stop their ignorance Mmm yeah gimme more of that, you game developer GOD
Factories in the late 1800s, the Gilded Age, wouldn't work people like this. They'd force workers to live in a town they built around the factory, pay them in Factory Fun Bucks that they could only spend in shops in said town whose prices they SET, and literally just shoot strikers and unionists by the dozens to ZERO repercussions.....but even they realized that anything more than 10 hour shifts 6 days a week (or 12/5) was a waste of payroll Congrats AAA gaming industries. You're more morally acceptable overall than those factories, but still monsters and aren't even getting the same efficiency and results out of it. Rockefeller laughs at you.
Yeah because the types of work are totally identical. Also unlike back then, people literally do have the CHOICE of working in AAA industry. They sort of get what's coming to them if they didn't expect crunch time. Leave the industry if you don't like it. If you're a coder, you have options outside of the industry.
That's not the point, the point is even these horrible monsters running the factories knew these people couldn't work those kind of hours unlike the AAA industry today.
@@MegaTyler93 im with you Fuck justice Its the victim who should be on trial All naive and abuseable Plain evil to me Id say we should get paid to torment them But we do :High fives: And if i were in there shoes Id just not have a job and money and food Until i found a fair place to work It only takes five minutes
ShadowWolfRising Well keep in mind, those ages are different when it comes to living standards. Factories in the 1800's had pretty much zero emphasis on stuff like healthy and comfortable environment, usually having bad inhalants depending on the job like mining or plantation work, etc etc. There's a reason why AAA companies feel like people can work longer hours now compared to those days (and they're right) which is they're working in an air-conditioned office, with food and beverage available presumably or have a lunch they can get food during, and probably have a generally somewhat comfortable working area/station.
My job is allowed to call mandatory overtime if we get busy (or if they feel like it, tbh) and the disappointment of not being able to go home when I was looking forward to it just completely drains what little will I had left to work hard.
Sup. QA Tester of 3 1/2 nearly 4 years in the video game industry here. I worked at Infinity Ward from 2016 to 2017 and we had several crunch periods. They took care of us, though as every employee was able to order lunch *and* dinner along with there being *two* fully stocked kitchens. They made sure we knew that while crunch was needed they didn't want us to burn ourselves out so to let them know if we couldn't stay. They were an amazing employer to work for and I hope to work for them again.
I never said that nor did I even hint at that. Your wild claim is unwarranted. I was giving my experience of working in several crunch periods for a developer studio.
History of Video Games never meant to offend you dude, but you are come across as if your trying to defend crunch by claiming the company treats theirs devs well based on your personal experience with a single company, again not trying to be mean, just pointing out the logical fallacy.
No, I wasn't. That's you incorrectly perceiving my statement. Crunch sucks! I was, again, just pointing out one of my experiences with crunch from a developer I worked for. I'm not even going to touch the crunch I have at Nexon.
The video game industry has a 116 billion dollar revenue, a 22 - 24% profit margin and around 70000 workers total for the ENTIRE industry, all companies combined!... But sure, keep telling the public that if the industry gave their workers proper and fair conditions the industry would need to increase the price of games exponentially and that making videogames is just too damn expensive to afford fair conditions for the game developers!
I just want the people trying to defend Rockstar or put a spin on it to be honest and say they don't give a shit so long as they get their cowboy game. That's more respectable than justifying it so you don't feel bad.
ChrisCarTheMarauder If what is happening here is true (just because Pat says it sounds like bullshit doesn’t mean I believe him) and it’s been going on for a while, that’s awful. But the game looks really good and exactly my type of game so no one is going to guilt trip me into not getting it and enjoying it tbh
I don't give a shit because I'm the consumer, I shouldn't give a shit, I just want my game, but I'm also going to defend Rockstar for many reasons, I've loved their games for years, and also, the people complaining about crunch time you should not feel bad for. It was literally their choice to work there. If they're unhappy, then FUCKIN LEAVE. Crunch time is NOT a unknown thing, I sincerely doubt they didn't know about it before they got the job. And if there in the industry, guaranteed they're skills can easily land a job outside of the industry that likely pays more. So either leave or shut up.
RyanKlip If someone tries to guilt trip you into not getting the game because of this stuff, fuck them, they can go take a dick down their throat. You're the consumer, you shouldn't give a shit about the employees.
At my work, OT is announced 30 mins before end of shift and immediately happens after that shift. Can't stay? You get tagged as "work abandon." Good look defending that on your hearing from your incident report.
Yep happens all the time in any industry thats labor intensive, especially if its got anything to do with government or military work. And before it gets brought up, yes it is illegal, and no management doesnt give a shit
@@nickcrawford6723 Exactly. You'll be fired, and it will be put down as being for something like having a bad attitude or work ethic, so they don't get in trouble for it. Regardless of your reasons.
Actually sensible people: Crunchtime doesn’t work. It just forces employees into rushed, sub-par labor and does hell to company morale. CEOs: THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES
I'm currently applying to medical residencies and in that world, the workload + the number of hours you gotta do is certainly something you want to talk about. About a year ago, I read this study that seemingly drew a comparison between the state of sleep deprivation and *being drunk* so... yeah... some physicians could very well have been driving home, fell asleep at the wheel, and that was it for them. Point is, putting in extra hours can drastically lower your efficiency.
I've only played the first four, and that was years ago so if it's true... it sure wouldn't be the whackiest of premises for a case in that series haha.
Remember guys: The people who nearly killed themselves to make the game (the ones who didn't get immediately fired when the game shipped) are going to see exactly one bonus and no royalties from its massive success. Refusing to buy the game is not going to hurt the actual developers who made it. Refusing to buy the game will hurt the executives and the shareholders.
It's their job?? Also worthless addition it shouldn't be the consumer responsibility to make sure everything they buy is ethically produced. Government should guarantee workers rights and the right to unionized
@@edu8273 nope, that's on you. if a company is doing something shitty, don't support them. you don't get to give them money and say you aren't part of the problem
I wanna get into the merchant marines one day but the work week looks fucking killer. I need to get in shape and fix my mental condition to be even close to ready.
WeaponOfMyDestructio There are no unions for game developers and unions usually turn into political tools protecting the laziest among the workers promoting mediocrity.
That must be a weird usa/canda here cause the work union literally save peoples asses. Maybe its cause the mob got involved with yours but down here the work union is a god send. If your boss withholds pay, or is illegally forcing people to do overtime hours without over time pay union will go to court for/with you.
They're working on it, and they've been working on it for years. Working conditions in game development in general is piss poor, it's just taken a long time for people to start taking notice.
'Death March to Another World' actually had this as an opening for their anime. And supposedly the character died in his sleep to end up in the game world.
you excited for infinity war part 2? you want it right now? huh, that's weird, that desire didn't magically rearrange the world to make RDJ work 100 hour work weeks. it's almost like your desire for a game now _has no fucking effect on reality._
Oh, yeah. Just like how gamers "don't want single player games anymore" (God of War has something to say) or "don't play horror games anymore" (Resident Evil 7 has something to say). If it's between waiting a few more months or getting another Silent Hill Downcoming, I've got time to burn! I've got books that need reading, movies that need watching, other games that need playing, other general shit to do to kill time!
K. Flynn No, we really don't. Most consumers of the gaming industry get super volatile when a company announces they have to push back a game. It's like 90% of the consumers and 10% of the companies.
Dan Houser only paid $100k for the VA for GTA IV's protag Niko Bellic, even though the game got billions of $$$ in profits. And there were so many voice lines!
Contractual obligations from higher-ups and investors will inevitably cause crunch due to the agreed upon release date. It will have to continue unless you want games to come out in pre alpha state.
couple weeks ago I worked through a pneumonia/fever. killer chest pain while shivering until I finished what was requested then left early. was completely terrified to tell my boss my Dr told me I need to not be functioning for a few days and it was my team's week to work a rotating 7 day week. it's in conjunction with profit/production. want more money? produce more. produce more by working more. life of the blue collar worker: punch in, punch out, pay unnecessary taxes, bitch about said taxes, die.
This is quite a dilemma for people who feel strongly about this issue. Do they NOT buy the game and let all the Dev's hard work go to waste? Or would they buy it, saying it's to support the devs and not the management. But then risk the management thinking "Fuck the noise! Our crunch method works and it's bringing in money". People need to be made more aware of how employees in the gaming industry are being treated. Not all companies are like this, of course. But then again even if the word gets out the common man probably wouldn't care. They'll just say "Hey, they're just sitting on their desks typing codes on the computer" or "At least they're doing their dream job"
Because the billions of dollars GTAV ended up earning definitely went to the programmers who pulled 100-hour weeks, and not the management that made them do it in the first place, right????
The best developers don't give out release dates on projects. The best developers write up appropriate "to do" lists on what should be done day by day.
There are 168 hours in a week, If you subtract 8 hours a night for sleep then there are 112 hours left, adding an hour-long break to each day results in 105 possible work-hours for you -slavedriver- employer to exploit.
What pisses me off is that NO-ONE ASKED FOR ALL THESE MINOR FEATURES! Does anyone ACTUALLY care that your character will button up his jacket if it gets cold or how big the open world is (meaning the amount of time you’ll be travelling in a straight line towards where you want to go)? Just put less hours in and focus on the fundamentals. The writing, gameplay, bug fixing etc.
Now imagine your capacity to see a doctor about your wrecked health is tied directly to your willingness to keep wrecking your health, and you'll see why the US is a nightmare hellscape.
Alright, I'm glad they showed the other article that shows the response to the original statement. Not in agreement with Pat that it's not true, I've heard that Rockstar is actually relatively decent to work there. So I'm inclined to believe that what was said there is true. I'm sure 60 hour weeks happen from time to time which still sucks, but everyone reacting so hard to that first headline kinda sucks.
You know what the worst part is? This is the THIRD time I've heard of Rockstar being shitheads about this. It happened again in 2010 with the Rockstar Spouses.
If I answered the phone more last week I would be doing more than 60 hours. Also when I was a new hire I was getting up to 80 hours plus going to school for the he work training and going to a different school for phlebotomy.
Lol crunch doesn't work for school either. You might pass the test and get good grades but you don't retain shit nearly as well like that. It's why so many people don't actually remember much that they learned in that period if there life. Organization, good time management and generally taking care of yourself well is going to net you more in the long term.
No people don't remember anything from that period because the stuff they teach you in public school is stuff you'll never use in your day to day life. When are you gonna need to know ancient history unless it's your field of study.
At some point the idea of only valuing "practical" knowledge goes too far. I would prefer a population that is aware of the basic outline of history, if only so that we can try to avoid repeated mistakes.
@@PR0MAN01 I'm not talking about public school, my statement applies to grad school just as well as elementary school lol. This shit has been shown numerous times scientifically and through peer reciew research
Do the people in management just assume that the people under them love doing their jobs since they're probably gamers? Because I can kind of understand that, but this is still the equivalent of say the Best Friends having to stream or make videos 24/7!
Computer professionals and some highly compensated positions in the untied states typically are not going to receive overtime pay as they are considered exempts by the law. Nobody in that position likes their job that much
Wow, once again capitalism at its finest! Your telling me that the people that get paid the least for over time end up doing most of the work? Plus to top it all off as the best friends said, these aren't the people that caused the problem, but they have to be the ones that fix it! Isn't their something wrong with your economic system if that's how it works in the industry?
@@theprofesionalist7927 its actually a problem in OTHER industries too, and many have as a result seen workforce outsourcing and even relocation to other regions. The president has pressured for different industries to return to the country, primarily manufacturing
The majority doesn't care how the sausage is made. But we just had reports that the executives at Rockstar pretty much had frat boy parties with Strip Clubs and drugs.
Okay 100 hours a week you only get 12 hours of free time for that whole week and that's if you're getting 8 hours of sleep. That's not a life worth living no matter what the pay is. You're spending your whole life doing nothing for yourself.
Sir Ubersupersloth and cause all the people you’re trying to baby to get fired laid off because of low sales. Stop kidding yourself. No one and I repeat no one besides pc elitists aren’t going to get this game. You know why. We’ve been waiting to play it forever. Pat who calls bullshit on everything Rockstar has said is also buying the game.
Blake Wood I didn’t even buy Red Dead Redemption 1 so it’s an easy decision for me to make. At the VERY least, wait a couple of weeks before buying. The first couple of weeks are the most important for a game’s sales. That way, you might even be able to get it preowned.
Sir Ubersupersloth I’ve waited years so I’m not waiting anymore. That’s cool if you want to wait but if you believe you’ll get a pre owned in any reasonable price at all 6 months later and not get spoiled then good luck.
Go back and read the quote again and notice how he is choosing his words. He clarifies that he was specifically talking about a select group of people. When it comes to the general working conditions he is far more wishy washy. He doesn't say that nobody works those hours, he says they don't "force" anyone to work those hours which, like Woolie said, is bullshit with how quickly people are fired after a game is released. In reality all he actually says is that yes some "senior" people work very long hours because they're "passionate". He never outright says that there are people who don't work those hours. just that it's a "choice".
I laugh. I laugh at these. I worked in a different industry where I normally had to travel from 45 min to 2.5 hours to get to a worksite, work a 12 hour shift then travel back to get home. Unless I was sent far enough that the company decided to pony up for hotel for duration of the site. A slow week was 80 hours, Average was 90-115 and one ‘hell week’ towards the end of my career was 144. I got 7 hours of sleep that week, mostly 1-2 at a time. And with over 36 hours between two of those intervals. 2 in the company truck in the parking lot of our storage yard. I laugh. And I cry. The day I finally had off at the end of it I slept 14 hours straight, ate a meal, watched a movie and slept another 10. On call 24/7 industries are rough.
Okay, what if, hear me out! WHAT IF after the hard working week those people get a couple days off later? Wow, I think that pretty much fix the problems!