Research Essay

About Me

Job Roles

Skills Audit

CV

Previous Work

Research Essay

Networking

Definition of ‘Crunch Culture’ and a Report of its Effects on Employees in AAA Game Studios

For many, landing a job in a widely known AAA Game studio is a dream come true and a huge milestone in a career in games development. However, whilst for the most part this is true, employees of various household name game studios have come forward to disclose that the working conditions are far from ideal and in some situations can be extremely hostile. These testimonies have been backed up by an increase in members of the games development industry suffering mental illness like anxiety, depression and ‘burn-out.’ This culture of overworking employees isn’t exclusive to games development, and is known across the media industry as ‘Crunch Culture.’

According to SAE Institute, ‘Crunch Culture’ is the term used to describe the practice of game studio employees being forced to work increasingly long hours in order to ensure that games are ready by their deadline as well as the flippant attitude that the managing directors seem to have towards utilizing ‘Crunch Time’ as a time management technique, when in reality it is a very serious issue that can and has caused a multitude of issues for employees, whether it be psychological damage, physical damage, emotional damage or a combination of all three. SAE Institute further explains that ‘Crunch’ can be drawn out for months at a time and create a work pattern that is unsustainable and detrimental to the employees both mentally and physically. [SAE Institute 2019]

Many studies have explored the effects of unnecessary stress on people’s physical and mental health. For example, Mayo Clinic reports on their website that stress can eventually lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.[Mayo Clinic 2019] Employees of major game developers are at serious risk of developing these potentially life threatening illnesses due to the increased stress that Crunch presents with mandatory over-time, which is mostly unpaid, as well as the major pressure  of an approaching deadline. Furthermore, in a study of Mental Health in the games industry, researchers found that 53% of game developers stated that ‘Crunch’ was an expected component of their employment and that less than 18% reported receiving overtime compensation whilst exceeding 40 hours of work per week.[Eve Crevoshay & Co. 2019] To put that into context, doctors who are notorious for overworking and having long work weeks are allowed to work a maximum of 48 hours per week according to the NHS employer website[NHS Employers 2019]; thus, the culture of creating situations where developers opt to ‘Crunch’ their employees rather than push a deadline at the behest of investors has been shown to have a drastically negative impact on soley the physical wellbeing of employees, and that is without exploring the numerous potential psychological and emotional damage that this culture can also create.

A multitude of research has suggested that as well as damaging people’s physical health, ‘Crunch’ can also have vastly negative effects on employees’ mental health. A study published by mental health awareness charity, Take This, found that working under ‘Crunch’ conditions can cause insomnia, major depressive episodes as well as clinical anxiety when compared to those working in normal conditions. They went further and described how crunch has negatively affected people’s families; the researchers for this paper spoke with a developer who stated that he had seen marriages fall apart and children separated from their parents as a bi-product of stress and additional working hours.[Take This 2016] In other words, Crunch has been proven to have major repercussions on both the relationships and the mental health of employees made to suffer through this ‘crunch culture’, which is becoming ever present across the game development industry. In addition to this, an article from media news site Screen Rant states the Crunch can even lead to some employees developing a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder whilst working on particular projects that required them to work over 100 hours in a single week in order to keep up with the business model of the company they work for.[Screen Rant, 2020] This shows beyond doubt that Crunch Culture is a serious issue within the working environment of not just AAA studios, but the games industry as a whole that is causing serious damage to people’s mental health and is a huge factor in the employees within the industry developing psychological disorders as a product of stress.

To conclude, whilst there are many benefits to working in the games industry and even more so when working in a AAA studio, ‘Crunch Culture’ is currently a major part of the experience and it has been proven to have many negative effects on the employees, especially for those in big budget studios that are under pressure from investors to deliver on time. Medical professionals have conducted research which has shown that the culture can negatively impact the physical health and wellness of the overworked staff. Similarly, studies as well as testimonies from the employees themselves have demonstrated the serious psychological and emotional strains that Crunch Culture has created. An increase in awareness over the past weeks and months of this problematic way of working as well as pressure from the gaming community aimed at game studios may help to abolish this practice for future generations of individuals looking to break into the industry, however real change will only come with legislation.

References:

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started