Cyberpunk 2077 Has Involved Months of Crunch, Despite Past Promises
Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most highly anticipated video games of the past decade, has already been delayed three times. Employees at CD Projekt Red, the Polish studio behind the game, have reportedly been required to work long hours, including six-day weeks, for more than a year. The practice is called "crunch" in the video game industry, and it is sadly all too common. From a report: It's also something that the leadership at CD Projekt Red said wasn't going to happen to the people making Cyberpunk 2077. Video game developers rarely speak openly with the press about their labor practices, but that's just what CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwinski did in May 2019. In a conversation with Kotaku, he said that his company thought of itself as more humane than its competitors. While long hours would be permitted for those interested in working them, crunch would not be made "mandatory." He called it a "non-obligatory crunch policy" and said it was something to be proud of. [...] Shortly thereafter, signs began to emerge that the Cyberpunk 2077 project was in trouble. In January 2020, CD Projekt announced the game's first delay. The release date was moved from April to September. The multiplayer component was also pushed into at least 2022. "We need more time to finish playtesting, fixing and polishing," said IwiÅski and head of studio Adam Badowski. That same day, during a public call with investors, CD Projekt revealed that crunch would ultimately be needed to get the game done on time. It would also be mandatory for at least some employees. "Is the development team required to put in crunch hours?" asked an investor, to which CD Projekt CEO Adam KiciÅski answered, "To some degree, yes, to be honest." [...] In September, Bloomberg reiterated what CD Projekt's leaders said to investors months before. A leaked email mandated six-day work weeks. Crunch had become a requirement, and according to anonymous employees, some developers had been working nights and weekends "for more than a year." In other words, delays do not mean relief for workers. Oftentimes, it simply means working at the same exhausting pace for additional weeks or months.
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