Crunch

A period of mandatory or culturally enforced extreme overtime worked by game developers, typically in the months before a game's release date or major milestone, characterised by 60-100 hour work weeks, suppressed personal time, and sustained high-pressure output. Crunch is systemic in AAA game development and has been widely documented through investigative reporting and developer testimonials at studios including Rockstar Games (100-hour weeks during Red Dead Redemption 2 development, confirmed by a co-founder's blog post that generated significant industry backlash), CD Projekt Red (mandatory six-day work weeks before Cyberpunk 2077's launch), Naughty Dog, Epic Games, and Ubisoft. The practice results in burnout, health deterioration, relationship breakdown, and departure of experienced developers who can no longer sustain the pace, creating a brain drain that ironically degrades the very product crunch is intended to complete. The root causes are multi-layered: unrealistic publisher release commitments, poor project management, scope expansion without timeline adjustment, and a culture that frames overwork as passion rather than exploitation. The games industry has faced increasing union organising in response to crunch and related labour issues, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) has organised at Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and other studios. Some studios have committed to no-crunch policies; whether they hold through release pressure is subject to ongoing scrutiny.