“We didn’t at all associate these
things with poor management or
poor planning practices,” van Lierop
says. “We believed crunch was a
necessary prerequisite to creating
something exceptional.”
It was only after a dozen years of
70 to 80 hour weeks, as van Lierop
found himself putting his kids to bed
only to turn around and drive back to
the office, that he recognised an
unhealthy spiral. “I recall a night in
particular during a really heavy
crunch period, my wife looking over
my shoulder and reflecting that she
didn’t understand why I was making
so many personal sacrifices for
something that didn’t feel that much
like ‘me’,” he says. “I realised I’d
never stopped to ask myself if this
was something I’d wanted. Shortly
after that game shipped I decided
that I would never go back to another
AAA studio, and Hinterland was
largely born from that decision.”
Hinterland, which develops
top-rated Steam survival game The
Long Dark, is part of a new wave of
studios dedicated to ending crunch.
Though divided by continents,
cultures and genres, they face shared
problems – and offer a glimmer of
hope that the rest of the industry can
one day find similar solutions.BAD ROMANCE
Overwork is not exclusive to AAA
studios. Famously, Stardew Valley
developer Eric Barone spent four
years in self-imposed crunch –TRIPLE YAY The big-budget studios changing things for the better
DOUBLE FINE
Tim Schafer has committed to finishing
Psychonauts 2 without crunch, and new owner
Microsoft has backed him.OBSIDIAN
‘Death marches’ are rare at the venerable RPG studio,
which explains how it’s kept hold of its core of veteran
staff for such a long time.BUNGIE
Halo 2’s brutal development led the developer to
change its ways. Destiny 2 was made without
enforced crunch, and holiday time is now mandatory.Gamenamexxxx
FE ATURE
HINTERLAND IS
PART OF A NEW
WAVE OF STUDIOS
DEDICATED TO
ENDING CRUNCH