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[B-universe]

I'm a software developer and I haven't done any over time in over 10 years. Some voices here think it's normal, or maybe even unavoidable if you want do create something great but I beg to differ.

In any large organization, crunch is just a failure in management and nothing more. This is how you lose your senior devs.

Since you've been hailed as The Voice of Reason, I want to put it to you that maybe Reason has several voices.

Polish game developers have chimed in (post on reddit ) (original Gamepressure article), two from CD Projekt RED.

Notable quotes:
Regarding the claim that it's management which is at fault, developer Adrian Chmielarz, currently working on The Astronauts, has this to say:

Where does crunch REALLY come from?

(...)

Four things -- human error, terra incognita of creativity and innovation, and market pressure -- result in SHIT HAPPENING when they collide with deadlines.

Four, not one.
This framework reads a lot more reasonable than your previous suggestion it's just management who always screws up.

Meanwhile, the trivial truth is that crunch is a complicated phenomenon and anything but black and white. I can't think of a better example than the fact that I know people from the CDPR who crunched, left, and told hair-raising stories about the company, but also those who have crunched longer and are highly satisfied with their work there and do not intend to leave.

Well, a video game is not a lonely island. There aren't many opportunities to advertise more effectively than usual across the year, it's even worse to find a release date for the game that wouldn't collide with suffocating competitors. Budgets and financial resources aren't made out of rubber, either, and they can sink even the most cautious plans and projects.

Composer Marcin Przybylowicz, as far as I know, currently working at CDPR has this to add:

And why do you assume that they [the bosses - editorial note] do not crunch? From the content of the question, I understand that you put forward a thesis that they happily disappear at 4 p.m., and that their slaves continue to crunch?

(...)

It amuses me how - with a puzzling regularity - so many people worry about the welfare of my person and the folks at CDPR; how to run such projects, how to change mine and others' world, except they obviously have no idea what it really looks like

Lukasz Szczepankowski, tech specialist at CDPR:

I can only confirm what Adrian Chmielarz wrote. Even if it comes to the situations he describes, my experience shows that there is relative top-down solidarity in game dev, regardless of the position in the company. I must disappoint you. Game dev managers are not proverbial capitalists - exploiters who count their cash while smoking a cigar and occasionally take a look at the oppressed developers (however picturesque this vision may sound).

 

[pratyush]

Anybody who works in Semiconductor industry will tell you what crunch is. Every industry which has to meet deadline is crunching out there. Engineering problems require time and dedication and it's not always straight forward like journalism.

 

[CrysisFreak]

Jim's great source:

 

[New Yorks Finest]

Why this weirdo fat bastid constantly getting attention on here, I didn't even knew who this bum was until someone decided to post links to his videos like his opinion matters...he like different different yo..fo real.

You shouldn't give a fk what he says, have your own opinion. We all did crunch time in our professional positions at some point or some of us, everyday.

Real Estate is 24/7 for me, no time outs..because the hunt for properties never stops, I have that thirst and hunger every day. No time to bitch, complain or cry on someone's shoulder, ITS LIFE. Period.

 

[Porcile]

Jim has become completely unbearable good lord. What's next, another Nintendo fan bait video? Can't believe anyone actually pays a monthly fee to this guy.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

Is it just me, or has this generation of Communists become lazy as hell? The evil "cahpeetahlists" finally figured out how to win for good, just fatten up the revolutionaries like you would a prize-winning sow. Kind of hard to engage in glorious revolution for the trodden-upon prolitariate when you're 400 pounds, and need a mobility scooter to get around.

 

[Hudo]

So according to Jason's own words the reason he won't even consider boycotting is that he wouldn't be able to do his job. What is the difference between that stance and stating that boycotting games would mean not being able to enjoy one's hobby?

Jason, Jason.

Jim's great source:

Jep. Schreier is a blogger (like everyone else in the gaming media), not a journalist and should be treated as such.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Jim Sterling used to be one of my favorite commentators, but he has definitely fallen from grace.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Jep. Schreier is a blogger (like everyone else in the gaming media), not a journalist and should be treated as such.

Believe it or not I actually respect this response. Saying he won't boycott the industry because it will affect his job is actually a very honest position that many in sports and news media fail to recognize.

 

[Madflavor]

"The tuh-rrrrriiipppllleee A industry"

Shut up you redudant asshole.

 

[oagboghi2]

We as gamers should care.

Because, yet again, CDPR is saying one thing and doing another. Had Ubisoft or EA stated publicly that they would never make their employees crunch... and then made them crunch... everyone here would be dog-piling on them right now... and rightly so.

And people would be stupid for doing so.

Why should CDPR get a pass? Their fans continually defend them when they lie like this. What makes it particularly vile this time is that, unbelievably, CDPRs fans are turning this on CDPR’s employees themselves!!

Sorry, but that’s just downright sickening. CDPR tells a lie... so let’s defend them and go after their employees instead.

Uh... no.

CDPR gets a pass because no one cares. People understand crunch is a thing, and if you need to do it, do it.

The only mistake CDPR made was assuming their critics weren't so petty. They should have never promised not to crunch, because that is an impossible promise to keep.

 

[junguler]

Six 6 day work weeks at the end of a 7 year development cycle isn't a crushing amount of physical or mental strain.
The Naughty Dog guys who had to sleep in the office for 6 months straight, or the Netherrealm guys who had to watch real injury videos for reference material? Yeah that's abhorrent and should be condemned totally, but six 48 hour work weeks that they get time and a half for the last 8 hours of? I've worked minimum wage jobs that demanded more of me.

i agree that this case is not as severe as the others you mentioned, but it's still wrong and it is the opposite of what cdpr management promised. i wasn't aware of the issues with those other games but that's sounds horrific and disgusting, the price of our entertainment shouldn't be this high and i certainly didn't ask for it.

 

[A Rifter in Space]

I guarantee the same people whinging about overtime are the same workshy wastes of space that think they're entitled to a fully paid house, bills and luxuries on a thirty hour work week.

I'm pretty sure this fatass would die of a heart attack if he had to work 9-5 without a minute of overtime for a full year too so I can understand why he believes this is all so horrible.

I also believe he has a hate boner for CDPR because I vaguely remember him bitching about a lack of representation in Witcher 3 to which one of the devs basically told him to STFU and GTFO, guess he never really got over that. Jimbo also got buttmad when CDPR posted on their GoG twitter account a gif of the Dude from Postal 2 pissing on the grave of gaming journalism. Just fo that alone they got called right-wing and Nazi supporters.

 

[sxodan]

CDPR dev on crunch: Our managers are not cigar smoking capitalists who oppress developers

CDPR dev on crunch: Our managers are not cigar-smoking capitalists who oppress developers

Lukasz Szczepankowski, a Lead Technical Designer at CD Projekt RED offered his thoughts on the Cyberpunk 2077 "crunch controversy" reports, which surfaced lately.

www.altchar.com

Edit: added full title

 

[MHubert]

I sometimes wonder... When this guy becomes unable to center his life around acting out this crap persona on the internet... what kind of man is he going to be.

You are fighting no one's fight, Jim.

 

[PaNaMa]

Crunch isn't fun. not in game development or any field. But lets say you start a project 6-7 years ago, and now just weeks from release you have to crunch a little to button things up. Well, woe is me! Sorry if my position diverges a little from the socially accepted perspective, but one crunch period of a couple weeks over 6 years? Suck it up, power through, we're almost done here.
Some people act like crunch is waterboarding, and point accusing judgy fingers at company leadership. I say it can (sometimes) be a neccesary evil, and isn't necessarily anyone's fault at all.

That's my unpopular opinion of the day.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Graduate School.
16 to 18 hours a day every day for 2 to 6 years depending on if you are getting a masters or PhD and how rigorous your field is.
Tiny Stipend that can be as low as essentially getting paid 4 dollars an hour.
Tremendous amount of stress as you are forced to come up with some novel research and have it published- often times more than 3 to earn your PhD.
This is just for a *chance* that you will get some sort of pay off.

Cry me a river with this crunch bullshit. Half these cunts wouldn’t make it more than a couple weeks in a decent graduate program.

 

[indigoSociety]

No one cares.

 

[Siri]

Where‘s the evidence that CDPR’s employees receive $50,000 bonuses?

Based on that video (which I’m convinced almost no one watched) I’m highly skeptical that CDPR is paying all one thousand employees $50,000 on top of their annual salaries.

 

[Siri]

Cry me a river with this crunch bullshit. Half these cunts wouldn’t make it more than a couple weeks in a decent graduate program.

I’ve experienced university and working for a mismanaged company, and university was a cakewalk in comparison even though I worked the same hours and had no money.

The reason you go to university is to get a great job afterwards - only a loser spends ten years at university in a graduate program and then chooses to work for a shitty company.

The issue here is that CDPR is a mismanaged company. Calling their employees ‘cunts’ is about as fucked up as it gets.

 

[B-universe]

Believe it or not I actually respect this response. Saying he won't boycott the industry because it will affect his job is actually a very honest position that many in sports and news media fail to recognize.

The point is he seems to be suggesting boycotting might be the moral thing to do and that he's not doing it himself because it would ruin his career. Should he ever criticize people for not doing the moral thing because it'd be an inconvenience for them, confronting him with this Tweet might snap him into thinking it through.

I’ve experienced university and working for a mismanaged company, and university was a cakewalk in comparison even though I worked the same hours and had no money.

The reason you go to university is to get a great job afterwards - only a loser spends ten years at university in a graduate program and then chooses to work for a shitty company.

The issue here is that CDPR is a mismanaged company. Calling their employees ‘cunts’ is about as fucked up as it gets.

I'm not endorsing his remarks, but are you sure he means CDPR employees when he says "Cunts", and not Jim or Jason? It's almost as if you've been asked to quote people who blame crunch on employees and this was your last resort to justify your previous allegation.

CDPR is a mismanaged company? A company which almost went bust but has now turned its founders into billionaires? And the basis for your opinion is 6 extra days of overtime for which developers apparently will be royally compensated?

The world needs more merriment.
Please keep on posting.

 

[Self]

The point is he seems to be suggesting boycotting might be the moral thing to do and that he's not doing it himself because it would ruin his career.

There is a rather obvious distinction between ruining your career and a minor inconvenience, don't you think?

But maybe your just speaking theoretically, according to an ideal or principle. In the latter case... ok.

 

[Dr. Claus]

I’ve experienced university and working for a mismanaged company, and university was a cakewalk in comparison even though I worked the same hours and had no money.

The reason you go to university is to get a great job afterwards - only a loser spends ten years at university in a graduate program and then chooses to work for a shitty company.

The issue here is that CDPR is a mismanaged company. Calling their employees ‘cunts’ is about as fucked up as it gets.

When did I call CDPR’s employees cunts? They aren’t the ones throwing a tizzy about a short crunch period. It’s these lazy twats on Twitter and the brainless “journalists”.

They are who I clearly am referring to as the cunts.

Agree to disagree on the grad program via mismanaged company. I have done both as well and nothing came close to grad school.

 

[Dr. Claus]

The point is he seems to be suggesting boycotting might be the moral thing to do and that he's not doing it himself because it would ruin his career. Should he ever criticize people for not doing the moral thing because it'd be an inconvenience for them, confronting him with this Tweet might snap him into thinking it through.



I'm not endorsing his remarks, but are you sure he means CDPR employees when he says "Cunts", and not Jim or Jason? It's almost as if you've been asked to quote people who blame crunch on employees and this was your last resort to justify your previous allegation.

CDPR is a mismanaged company? A company which almost went bust but has now turned its founders into billionaires? And the basis for your opinion is 6 extra days of overtime for which developers apparently will be royally compensated?

The world needs more merriment.
Please keep on posting.

Yea, I was clearly not referring to the employees. The Twitter twats and lazy brain dead “journalists” were who I was referring to as cunts.

 

[cireza]

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Believe it or not I actually respect this response. Saying he won't boycott the industry because it will affect his job is actually a very honest position that many in sports and news media fail to recognize.

if he boycotts the industry he won’t need to work any hours per week, so no crunch on his grueling job of tweeting all day!

 

[H4ze]

STOP giving this piece of shit a platform here, he is an absolute moron, who clickbaits with retarded videos like this.
Fuck Jim and his whole channel.

 

[Piku_Ringo]

Goddamn 95% of the people on here wasted no time and spared no expense at taking a massive dump on ol Jimmy here.

 

[FMbarbarian]

Adding another personal crunch account. I worked for one of the big 3rd party publishers for 3 years on back end code. Crunch was legitimately the most fun I had working in the game industry. However I started in the industry at 26 years old had worked blue collar jobs since I was 16.

I can see why someone who just came out of college and went immediately into the industry would think it's hard. But for me it was a blast. Staying up late eating pizza and cracking jokes with the other Jack asses on our team. Sure it would be quiet when we focused, but working under the pressure to get things right was so much more fun and challenging than the job was otherwise.

Crunch was a hell of a lot easier than lifting 250 pound mattresses up three flights of stairs everyday for 8 to 12 hours.

 

[Ixiah]

Goddamn 95% of the people on here wasted no time and spared no expense at taking a massive dump on ol Jimmy here.

I wonder why.
As for the Video, of course someone who has never realy worked in his Life mistakes soul crushing months long 18 Hour Workdays with
a last minute sprint that the Workers are ok with, because its extra Pay.
But when you are someone that is used to 30 Hour Weeks and a full trough filled with Food 3 Times a Day, of ocurse something like CDR does must
look like Slavery.

 

[notseqi]

and aint nobody sayin shit bout capn crunch

hypercriters

edit: I believe that people complaining about crunch have not worked hard and long towards something. In a sense, however financially successful CDPR is now, a game of that scale and anticipation can make a company go under. Investing two months of your time plus possible hotfixes after launch still probably doesn't mean 14hour days for 'common' workers. It's the EU after all. As a manager you're kind of in a 'get it done' mood anyway and six workdays a week is cool beans.

 

[spons]

sounds like a standard deadline to me.

 

[Ulysses 31]

Wonder if Jim will make another video on the subject.

 

[Warnen]

Wonder if Jim will make another video on the subject.

prob got his big purple dildo already lubed up.

 

[B-universe]

Wonder if Jim will make another video on the subject.

Yes, Jason and Jim. I will simply take your word for it. One former dev told you so and so and now your Twitter feed is my bible. Who needs to hear the other side, when Jason Almighty has declared there's none.

It's hilarious to witness as Jason, and possibly Jim, tries to frame a third delays as vindication. If CDPR crunches it's terrible, if they delay, then that's evidence of how terrible the crunch is.

The logic of a donut.

Please Jason, please keep quoting your One-former-developer stream of sources.

 

[The_Mike]

Jimquisition stands for...

Edgy shitty youtuber. I don't know. I'm so tired of this moron just riding on popular subjects and cheering on the winning side instead of being a critic.

Jim is giving You tubers a bad name.

Jim, its over. Just let it go you edgy sad soul.

 

[Ixiah]

Please Jason, please keep quoting your One-former-developer stream of sources.

Too bad you cant tell him on twitter, because that absolut unsufferable asshole banns everyone that even slightly disagrees with him.

 

[Starstruck]

Shittyyyyy. He talks like a little kid

 

[MMaRsu]

Hope whoever ends up doing his bypass surgery doesn't decide to clock out after their 8 hour shift in the middle of it

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Shittyyyyy. He talks like a little kid

And over 11 grand a month to do so

James Stephanie Sterling | Patreon

Creating The Jimquisition

www.patreon.com

 

[jaysius]

I wonder how much heart medication he has to take to be able to sustain all that angst for 10-15 minutes, who knows maybe these take days.

Jimmothy and Angry Joe should team up, it'd be pretty amazing, all the irrelevance in one place. Although, I hate Angry Joe, it feels like putting him down to this level is a bit unfair... nah.

All Jimmothy is is a troll parser, that's really it. I'd be shocked if he ever came up with an original idea, he did start out on Dtoid as having great potential, but look where the money took his little brain.

 

[Puskas]

And over 11 grand a month to do so

James Stephanie Sterling | Patreon

Creating The Jimquisition

www.patreon.com

Almost $15K per month for being a fat English twat. Insanity.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

I thought it stood for:

Cunting
Developers
Postpone
Release

 

[LeftThumbstick]

Jesus fucking Christ man, if you don’t like the job you are in or feel like you’re getting too hard a time then leave and get a new job.

 

[yansolo]

lol this guy is the worst, for anyone thats worked a day in their life knows that "crunch" is just another day at the office. I've worked at joints where shit like overtime was expected (with no pay because it was for the greater good of the company), ive seen people get treated like garbage by managers etc Im not saying its right and ive copped shit like that too, but it is what it is until it changes for the better. At the end of the day just fkn stand up for yourself and if you are unhappy look for a better job and bounce when you get it

this guy just must be really unhappy

 

[Boneless]

What a crusader for the developers, he must feel good about himself for standing up for these poor developers who cannot stand up for themselves. Jason will look in the mirror with satisfaction, another day making the world a better place.

 

[Belmonte]

CDPR dev on crunch: Our managers are not cigar smoking capitalists who oppress developers

CDPR dev on crunch: Our managers are not cigar-smoking capitalists who oppress developers

Lukasz Szczepankowski, a Lead Technical Designer at CD Projekt RED offered his thoughts on the Cyberpunk 2077 "crunch controversy" reports, which surfaced lately.

www.altchar.com

Edit: added full title

 

[Starstruck]

Probably he earns much more than 15k

 

[Fitzchiv]

Anyone in any industry who's held a project management role knows the final stretch is a crunch. How much of a crunch is about how lucky you've been with all the fractional variables, fuck ups, delays etc along the way. No-one wants to push that launch date out, and this argument that crunch is a product of "bad management" is an absolute bullshit view that can only be held by someone who's never come close to that kind of work. Unless you're willing to build chunks of contingency into your schedule to offset any bullshit, you'll suffer some kind of crunch. This is a commercial business, delays mean opportunity cost, so therefore crunch is inevitable if you want to avoid that.

It doesn't mean it's good for people, and frankly there has to be a limit, but this puritanical fucking bullshit from the likes of Schreier is based on complete detachment from reality.

 

[Bonfires Down]

Crunch is bad but I think only the developers can fix it by unionizing or threatening to leave. It’s not the responsibilty of the customers. I don’t mind Jim bringing these things into the light though.