Separation of crunch and art



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This white paper is one of the only academic reviews of video game tightening: this is what it is called when developers work considerably more than 40 hours a week to complete a project on time. This is a ubiquitous factor of division in the industry and one of the biggest rallying calls for those who want to syndicate the game development in the United States. Crunch, according to Take This, negatively affects the productivity, brain function and mental health of employees and their families, increasing burnout and staff turnover.

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<p>Crunch is making headlines at the moment because of a phrase uttered with pride by Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser, and quoted in a statement on Oct. 14. <em>Vulture</em> article on the creation of <em>Red Dead Redemption 2</em>: "We worked 100 hours a week."</p>
<p>The fuse was immediately turned on. Developers and critics criticized Rockstar, denouncing the crunch as a practice, while some former employees shared horror stories about studio work, claiming that the crunch was not only accepted, but expected, for years. The developers explained that they went to the office at 9 am and did not leave until 10 or 11 years, seven days a week, several weeks at a time. They described a set of unpaid, mandatory overtime practices and many described the loss of friends, family members and their own mental stability during these times.</p>
<p>"Depression and anxiety pushed me further than ever when I was working there," said one former <em>Red Dead Redemption 2</em> developer said <em>Kotaku</em>. "My body was exhausted, I did not feel able to have friends outside of work, I felt myself going crazy for a good part of my time there and I started drinking a lot. "</p>
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<h3>The crisis projector</h3>
<p>Rockstar is one of the largest video game studios in the world. Founded in 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar is responsible for the most lucrative game in history, <em>Grand Theft Auto V</em>, and a range of other successful AAA franchises, including <em>Red Dead</em><em> </em>and <em>Max Payne</em>. The company has eight offices in the United States, England, Scotland, Canada and India, as well as thousands of employees.</p>
<p>Rockstar co-founders (and brothers), Dan and Sam Houser, have a reputation for striving for perfection – a strategy that has paid off over the years. In 2012, Dan Houser bought the Brooklyn Mansion where Truman Capote wrote <em>Breakfast at Tiffany's </em>for $ 12.5 million, setting a monetary record for the city. In 2014, the former president of Rockstar North and head of <em>Grand Theft Auto</em> Leslie Benzies spent £ 500,000 to preserve a church in Scotland. The Housers had a combined net worth of £ 90 million in 2014.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <em>Grand Theft Auto V</em>, which was released in 2012, continues to increase the net profit of Take-Two. In its 2018 financial report, the company said it had more than $ 1.4 billion in cash and short-term investments, but "we achieved these results despite an exceptionally light release schedule. testifies to the strength of our strong catalog. <em>Grand Theft Auto</em>. "</p>
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<p>Rockstar is an efficient and profitable studio. However, this success has been irrevocably linked to an extreme crisis, not just recently. In 2010, during the development of <em>Red Dead Redemption</em>, an open letter allegedly written by the wives of Rockstar San Diego employees explained the skewed balance between work and personal life required by the studio. They threatened prosecution if the conditions did not improve. Rockstar dismissed the letter and <em>Red Dead Redemption</em> was released later this year for fantastic sales and acclaim.</p>
<p>With regard to the recent claims of the extreme crisis, a number of current and former employees of Rockstar have expressed their support for the company. They do not refuse to work overtime, but they say it's worth it and it's not excessive, especially when they manage to create such high-end experiences. Other employees argue that this attitude contributes to the problem by creating situations where they feel compelled by everyone to work longer.</p>
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I have been at Rockstar for two years and I worked on RDR2. I have never worked nearly 100 hours a week. There was some tightening but nothing ridiculous. We worked hard on the game but we were not mistreated. I think the maximum I did on the RDR2 was 60 for a week.

– Danny Bannister (@BeardyDan3D) October 18, 2018

The question is bigger than Rockstar, though. The video game industry has long earned the trust of Crunch, which was at the center of the scene in 2004 with the publication of the blog "EA Spouse", a letter strongly criticizing the working practices at Electronic Arts. According to the position, employees worked for months of "pre-compression" (eight hours, six days a week), then "slight compression" (12 hours, six days a week) and finally compression (12 hours, seven days a week). ), with no hope of additional leave or compensation for overtime.

"Stress takes its toll," says the letter. "After a number of hours of work, the eyes start to lose concentration.After a number of weeks with only one day of rest, fatigue begins to accumulate and accumulates. Exponentially There is a reason why there are two days in a weekend – bad the physical, psychological and mental situation of the person has deteriorated if we avoid these days.The team starts quickly to introduce as many defects as it removes them. "

"The team is quickly starting to introduce as many faults as it is removing them."

It was 14 years ago. Today, Rockstar is the face of the crisis, developers sharing strangely similar stories about studio life. However, the environment of these complaints is very different from more than a decade ago. Twitter sites and social networks make the task of storytelling easier. It takes shape and even affects fans of casual video games. there is a growing movement to syndicate game development, and prominent cases like Rockstar are fueling this particular fire. Critics and video game fans are more aware of the dangers of the crisis and are less willing to accept it as a necessary part of the industry, at least in its most extreme forms.

Which brings us to Red Dead Redemption 2.

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