IGDA Quality Of Life Survey Analyzes Game Developer Crunch

Thanks to the IGDA for its survey details discussing the problems videogame developers face trying to balance work crunch and family/relationships. A survey commissioned by the IGDA revealed "34.3% of developers expect to leave the industry within 5 years, and 51.2% within 10 years", and also noted: "Crunch time is omnipresent, during which respondents work 65 to 80 hours a week (35.2%). The average crunch work week exceeds 80 hours 13% of the time. Overtime is often uncompensated (46.8%)." The IGDA's Jason Della Rocca is quoted as suggesting: "While game development is a stimulating and rewarding career, the work conditions are often taxing, making it hard to sustain a balanced lifestyle and leading many senior developers to leave the industry before they've done their best work... it is not just the community that is affected - these issues also impact the quality of games produced." Are insane hours just part and parcel of working in games, or is there another way?

Comments

Re:Nearly All Deadline Driven Development

[user no. 590291]

(The production of many term papers seems to parallel this "crunch mode" as well.)

For 80 hours a week? I don't think I spent 80 hours in aggregate on my term papers as an undergrad.

Isn't this true for most software developments?

[antdude]

Non-game projects also make developers, QA people, etc. work long hours as well.

Re:Too complex

[Sigma 7]

Games have become so complex: That is why developers need to work so hard, for so long, while spending so much money, to get games today finished. With so much complexity involved, many developers won't be able to keep up.

In almost every instance within the software industry (games or otherwise), an improperly planned project will end up either incomplete or behind schedule - especially if there are large groups working on the project.

While complexity does have a factor in delaying projects, it is minimal when compared to lack of planning.

What Brings the Dreaded Crunch

[MiceHead]

There are plenty of reasons why a studio might enter crunch-mode:

• Approaching holiday - Christmas brings about the hottest season in retail, and publishers want to capitalize on this by releasing new titles in time for this. The Christmas push is less pressing for smaller studios that distribute outside of retail.
• Media event - E3 is when all the gaming companies and all the gaming press come together and pretty much stand around in a competition to see who can avoid having a seizure (flash/audio). Or, such was my take on it. There's a huge PR incentive to have content prepared for this event; more eyeballs translates into more potential sales.
• Publisher-imposed milestone - Publishers can withhold payment or cancel projects outright if a team misses milestones; if you're nearing such a deadline, the extra hours may be the difference between a happy publisher and a cranky one.
• Competition - You might have a solid first-person shooter, but if it's released concurrent with Doom III or Half-Life 2, there's a good chance it'll be overlooked. If you own the UHF DVD, you'll hear Al Yankovic lament that his movie went up against Batman, Indiana Jones, Lethal Weapon II, among others. You may also have your favorite game that was underrated due to poor timing. (Fortunately, there's always the possibility of a sequel.)
• Budgetary constraints - Especially crucial if a development house is self-funding a title. If a generous publisher sees a promising project go over-budget, they might extend it. If an independent studio runs out of money for going over schedule, it must secure more financing.
• Loss of staff - This can be devastating at project-end. There's no time to train new staff; existing members must take up the slack.

Game development is a wonderful vocation, but as with anything, too much of a crunch (the death-march) results in burnout. There must be ways we can mitigate some of the above causes. Less reliance on outside investment is one, but maybe that's wishful thinking my part.

Re:I found this story amusing, considering...

[cubicledrone]

The guys who made the LOTR movies put insane hours in as well. When you're making outstanding triple-AAA quality entertainment based media, be it movies, games, televisions shows, etc, you've got put the effort in to make it as good as it can be.

By driving employees to the point of exhaustion? Its inefficient and a poor way to build an industry. Structural engineers don't work 14 hours a day building suspension bridges. Auto workers don't work 80 hour weeks. Why must game developers work ridiculous schedules to earn their paychecks? (Hint: It has to do with management and the value of a "really cool job.")