A few years ago, one of the most discussed issues in the gaming industry was massive recycling. In a conversation with PC Gamer, David Gaider, who in the past was responsible for the scripts of the Dragon Age series games, touched on this topic and stated that the industry still needs to deal with crunches.
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical
As Geider notes, many people in game development believe that it is impossible to succeed without crunches, but he is not satisfied with this.
"There is a fear that if you don't get everyone to work overtime and develop AAA games with photorealistic graphics, lasting a thousand hours and a budget of $ 200 million, then nothing will work. Therefore, you have to give up everything and work to death, and this is the only way to make games," said Geider. "If—if—that's really the case, then maybe the industry deserves to die. However, I think there are other options."
Geider cited his Summerfall Studios as a positive example. It has a four-day work week selected, there are no crunches and everything is in order.
"You just need to create a realistic schedule that will not deceive either the people you report to or your own team. You need to work with the time you have and use it as effectively as possible to develop the game. As a result, you will have employees who love their work and don't feel like a resource," said Geider.
Geider called on gaming companies to treat employees fairly and supported the idea of creating trade unions.
In August 2023, Summerfall Studios released its debut role-playing musical Stray Gods on PC and consoles: The Roleplaying Musical. Critics have received the title well, rating it 70-78 out of 100 on Metacritic, depending on the platform. On Steam, the game collected about 1.6 thousand reviews, of which 94% were positive. Also Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical received three statuettes at the Game Audio Network Guild Awards, including for "best music in an indie game".