How to deal with Crunch Time

In most companies, developing a video game is done to a schedule. The release date is estimated, based on the amount of employees available and the complexity of the game under production. Because the release date is almost invariably overly optimistic (along with costs), as the deadline draws closer employees are expected to work large amounts of overtime, including weekends and evenings.

Almost inevitably, scores of bugs are discovered, some minor, some big enough to potentially threaten the entire game.

Crunch time is probably impossible to avoid, given human nature. However, many companies take advantage of the (usually unpaid) overtime to artificially shorten development schedules and get the most hours possible out of their employees.

Naturally, lack of sleep, reliance on junk food and caffeine, and a curtailed personal life impact developers quite negatively. As fatigue kicks in, mistakes (and shortcuts) increase, with the net result that as hours increase, productivity goes down. A short spurt of effort can be maintained - several weeks worth cannot be.

However, during crunch time reflections such as these are often thrown out of the window. Because everyone else is working (or at least hacking at code in a zombiefied state) there is a lot of pressure to conform to that schedule.

Part One: Limiting Crunch Time

If you are more than a just a drone for the upper-management, you can help limit crunch time by giving feedback on development schedules. If you are the one actually working on the game, you will have more experience in how long it takes. Do not be afraid to ask for release dates to be extended. Good managers would rather announce a release date and stick to it, than announce a release date and then delay the game. If you’ve got a bad manager, and they argue, send them here and here.

Don’t be afraid to refuse extended periods of overtime. You have the right to a family life, and the right to limit your work hours. Check your local laws, and always always read your contract.

Ensure that you work well prior to crunch time. It’s easy to waste time and be laid back at the start of a project, when the deadline is months (or even years) away. By increasing the amount of work you do at the start, later crunches can be minimized.

Expect bugs. There should be slack built into the schedule to allow time to find and fix potential problems.

Be prepared to stand up for yourself. Managers - particularly middle and upper level managers who rarely speak to the people they employ - tend to see human beings as resources and numbers. Their job is to maximize profits and minimize costs. They will often ignore polite or subtle requests and complaints. Threaten legal action, make a fuss, not just for your benefit, but for the entire industry. Once unpaid overtime in any company becomes integrated and expected, they will keep pushing the limits further and further back.

Ultimately, the best games come from a small, dedicated, talented and healthy team. Not from the zombie corporations.

Part Two: Dealing with Crunch Time

Sometimes, you just gotta get on with it. If crunch time has to be, then it has to be. To lessen the impact on your health and stress levels though, you should practice good working habits.

Get up and walk around. Usually better to do this every thirty minutes. Just take five and get a glass of water.

Drink water. Stay hydrated, especially if you are swigging caffeine like it’s going out of fashion.

Keep healthy snacks around. Fruit, oat biscuits, nuts, yogurt and dark chocolate. Avoid anything overly sugary, as the crash will kick you in the teeth if you are already tired.

Never drive if you’re tired. Demand on-site sleeping facilities, or go home early, or offer to work overtime at home. Driving while tired is lethal. Work for 21 hours straight and you are legally classified as drunk. No game is worth your life.

Don’t work extended periods of overtime for more than two weeks without a two day break to recover and recharge. Long term fatigue introduces more bugs and mistakes.

Focus on one task at a time. Multitasking can seem like an easy way to double productivity, but all that will happen is you will lose concentration and not be able to ‘get in the flow’. Work on one thing, complete it, tick it off your to-do list. Move on.

Maintain a sense of humor, and don’t shout at your colleagues. When sleep is lost and deadlines loom it is easy to lose your temper. Explosive arguments aren’t useful, and communication has to be maintained for workflow to be efficient. Remember your colleagues are tired as well. Mistakes happen.

Equally, try and forgive your colleagues if they shout at you. Many tense situations can be defused with a joke or a wry comment.

Finally, keep your fans up-to-date on what is happening. Gamers are infuriated by delays or problems that have no explanation or apology. Take the thirty minutes to update your company website or send out a press release. Treat your gamers nicely and they’ll be loyal even if the game is delayed by months!

Photos by Chinchinchilla and Wurz.

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11 Responses to “How to deal with Crunch Time

Daniel Primed Says:
February 4th, 2008 at 6:51 pm

That was a great read.

I don’t talk about it much now but a few years ago my twin brother and I developed a game of our own. Nearing the end of development we hit some hard crunch time. We were balancing the project between school and each morning we had basically planned every 15 minute slot of our day. We had to squeeze time out of nowhere and it almost broke us. Its quite scary actually.

Michael Says:
February 10th, 2008 at 11:49 pm

Thanks for all the good ideas, Keira. I’m not a programmer, but we have “crunch time” in my profession (college professor) twice a year during final exams. A lot of your advice is easily applicable to students under stress, working with little sleep, and feeling tremendous deadline pressure. Your advice to stay hydrated and eat healthy snacks works wonders. I also recommend taking short “power naps” which can extend your useful work time more effectively than caffeine.

As always, I enjoy reading your blog.

Keira Peney Says:
February 11th, 2008 at 9:13 am

@Daniel - Interesting - did anything come of the game? Planning your time in advance is actually a really useful thing to do as well, come to think of it.

Keira Peney Says:
February 11th, 2008 at 9:14 am

@Michael - Yes, college/university can be very stressful around those times. I think a lot of good (and bad) working habits can be learned at college, and they often set the pattern for the future.

I pulled a few all-nighters when I was in college, that could probably have been circumvented with some better planning.

The worst ‘crunch’ was when I managed to delete a paper that had taken me three weeks to write, the day before it was due in. That was a fuuuun night, but it was amazing how much I was able to redo.

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Andrew Says:
September 30th, 2008 at 3:29 am

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April 15th, 2009 at 8:13 am

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GameProducer.Net » Blog Archive » Can’t Blog Now (It’s Crunch Time) Says:
October 27th, 2009 at 11:58 am

[...] Can’t Blog Now (It’s Crunch Time) October 27th, 2009 by Juuso Posted in Game Development Preparing my game’s next release (a few days to go), so no blogging today… but here’s a good article to read about crunch time. [...]

Anonymous Says:
October 27th, 2009 at 2:16 pm

This is one of the reasons why I left the game industry as a programmer. (The other is lousy pay). I now earn twice as much as an enterprise software developer, and our overtime is very limited and more than compensated: 100% recoup + 50% paid.

In the games industry they just take advantage of you. ‘The more crap you put up with, the more crap you are going to get’

Game Producer: Can’t Blog Now (It’s Crunch Time) | Games For You Says:
October 27th, 2009 at 3:05 pm

[...] Preparing my game’s next release (a few days to go), so no blogging today… but here’s a good article to read about crunch time. [...]

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