"By setting realistic timeframes to work with, and a mentality that promotes future-proofing, efficiency, and iterative development, we can better set expectations when it comes to milestones, minimizing the risks of missing our targets and having to resort to crunch."
Crunch is so routine in game development that, at times, it's hard to conceive of a professional environment that doesn't rely on it at least some of the time. But as Behavior Interactive senior producer Julien Tolszczuk-Jalbert and senior creative director Ashley Pannell put it in our latest Deep Dive, crunch is simply "just a way to make up for poor planning and misgauged realities."
Hear them explain why avoiding crunch is a value that has to start at the management level over at Game Developer.