The notion of crunch in video game development has been a hot button issue for the past few years. Recently, CD Projekt RED called for mandatory overtime ahead of their upcoming game, Cyberpunk 2077, catching fans' attention. This comes after Cyberpunk 2077 was already delayed several times.

The company announcement makes all employees have to work six-day work weeks for the time being. While this is upsetting enough to hear, it comes after repeated pledges by the CD Projekt RED that they would do everything they could to avoid this measure while working on their latest project. After years of development and only a month and a half to the launch date, why did they break their promise now?

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Studio Head Adam Badowski addressed this change in an email sent to CD staff. He explained that the whole studio would be working overtime while acknowledging the controversy surrounding the decision. “I take it upon myself to receive the full backlash for the decision. I know this is in direct opposition to what we’ve said about crunch. It’s also in direct opposition to what I personally grew to believe a while back — that crunch should never be the answer. But we’ve extended all other possible means of navigating the situation,” said Badowski.

The answer is not so straight forward, with multiple reasons as to this decision. Cyberpunk was originally set to launch on April 16th, 2020, but the launch was then pushed to September 17th, and again to November 19th. The reasoning behind the delays was the developers needed time for testing, polishing and fixing bugs. Many consider that perhaps delaying the game’s release one final time would be a better alternative.

However, after being delayed twice and the current launch date so close to both the holiday season and the next-gen launch, it’s fair to say the company would be extremely reluctant to delay any further. A factor to consider CD Projekt’s decision likely comes from the COVID-19 epidemic that has spread across the entire world. The pandemic has put development for projects across many industries on hold and doesn’t seem to be letting up soon. Although developer teams can work online from the safety of their homes, their inability to work together in person undoubtedly set them back.

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Though it's only now mandatory, it was reported that employees were already working extra throughout the year, apparently motivated to work on the game as much as possible. But crunch time can be bad for employees even when it’s voluntary, as it can lead to peer pressure and a perception that those not putting in extra hours might be seen as lazy or unmotivated.

Crunch time hours are nothing new when hearing about the development of video games, a notable example being Red Dead Redemption 2. Dan Houser, the co-founder of RDR2 dev Rockstar Games, reasoned that the workload was necessary. The games' story is said to contain more than 300,000 animations and 500,000 lines of dialogue. With that kind of accomplishment, it can be hard to deny the effectiveness of having employees buckle down and keep working past normal hours. Fans initially condemned Rockstar for the mandatory crunch, but sadly most went silent and complacent after the game was released to universal acclaim. Perhaps CD Projekt hopes to gain that same forgiveness after Cyberpunk launches.

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This news has likely disappointed many fans and employees at the company, especially after the studio promised to be more humane to its workers. To soften the blow, the company tweeted that all employees working extra hours would be paid accordingly, which many other video game companies are unwilling to do. “This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make, but everyone is well compensated for every extra hour they put in. And, like in recent years, 10% of the annual profit our company generates in 2020 will be split directly among the team,” said Badowski.

CD’s previous big-name project, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, was a massive success for the company but received criticism for various bugs and technical issues present at launch. Cyberpunk is an ambitious project not only in their company but for the entire AAA games industry. The pressure is high for CD Projekt Red, and regardless of their pledges, they will do whatever is necessary to ensure this game is their crowning glory.

Is it possible to avoid mandatory overtime, even for huge projects like this? There’s no easy answer. Crunch time can exist in nearly every workplace, where quotas and deadlines need to be met, no matter what. Though they broke their pledge, CD Projekt did try to meet the ideals they set for themselves. Later down the line, perhaps on a better year, they can once again be a beacon that every other company should strive towards.

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