Crunch Culture

Crunch culture describes the societal pressure or "culture" in which overworking is good work. The term is most frequently used in the programming industry, even more so in the game development industry, though it may be used outside of those fields. Usually you will see this when a company may make their employees work 6/5, but then use the tight deadlines as leverage to have them work 15/7.

Often times there is pressure on the workers not just from their employers, but also from the people around them. There is an idea that working 15/7 should be fine if you were actually passionate about your work. In reality it just deprives workers of any passion or creativity they may have had. In addition, some may argue that working long shifts is "good for you" and "that's what life is all about". Really it deprives the workers of happiness and time, and overwhelms into a state of anxiety and depression.

In the game development industry there is also a lot of pressure created by "fans". The consumers always want the game/update released, and often the pressure gets put on the developers. In some instances the developers even get threats to finish the game/update. The reality is a lot of the times the developers are already working past their limits. The fans are often the biggest culprit for causing crunch culture.

Boss: "The game needs to be finished in a month, you guys are going to have to work longer hours to meet the deadlines."
Developers: "We are already working 3 hours overtime each day, we can't code any faster."
Boss: "Well it's not like I'm holding a gun to you guys making you work overtime, if you don't like it then leave."
Developers: *It's not like our whole careers is on the line or anything... F*ck crunch culture*

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