Eidos Montreal moves to four-day work week

The studio behind the prequels of Deus Ex, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Shadow Of The Tomb Raider are taking a bold step in an industry known for overwork and moving to a four-day work week. Eidos Montreal says wages and working conditions will stay the same, they will simply close the office on Friday as everyone goes from the 40-hour week to the 32-hour week. The idea is that with more downtime to relax and live with their lives, people will work better during those reduced hours. Okay, everyone’s doing it too, thank you.

The four-day week is an increasingly popular concept, although we haven’t seen much of it implemented. The idea is that when employees have more time for themselves, they grind their minds and bodies less and their lives are shattered, so that they will be more productive during the hours they are working. The trials in Iceland were declared “an overwhelming success” with productivity improving or at least staying the same in most workplaces. And, you know, the employees were happy to tear their minds, bodies, and lives to shreds.

“The idea is not to condense the working hours into 4 days, but rather to review our ways of doing things and our quality time invested, in order to work better! Above all, we want to increase the productivity and well-being of our employees, ”said Eidos Montreal studio director David Anfossi in the announcement.

“Concretely, we want to reduce working time, but increase the quality of this time invested, whether as a team or for the studio as a whole. A promising right balance for everything!

“We want a real collaborative aspect so that the teams contribute to the transition, each working to define the parameters and success criteria for the organization of work and deadlines. We hope this will eliminate unnecessary time and build on efficiency, for example. by reducing internal meetings from one hour to 30 minutes. “

A three-day weekend AND shorter meetings? What a life!

The change is coming in the coming weeks. They also do this at Eidos Sherbrooke, a nearby research and development studio. I hadn’t heard of it, but ooh their projects include real-time morphing of environments and surfaces, and the use of AI and machine learning in generating and rendering the world. Anyway, let’s get back to the matter at hand.

Several independent studios are already operating on a four-day work week, including the developers of Mutazione Die Gute Fabrik and the Bugsnax Young Horses gang. A big budget studio like Eidos Montreal that does that is another matter. Hopefully this will inspire others to at least consider it, especially in an industry that often treats people like throwaway.

The Scottish Government is planning a four day week trial and I would like to stress hello, I live in Scotland, hello, choose me. A group of Irish companies are also planning a pilot project in 2022. The Belgian government is also considering a four-day work week, although its plan would be to cut the same 40 hours into just four days. Many other companies and governments are having talks over four-day weeks, but many seem to be waiting for clear evidence of full-scale success before going against the convention.

Disclosure: I’m friends with Die Gute Fabrik CEO Hannah Nicklin, who also writes for RPS.