Starfield Devs are Not Crunching, Xbox Game Studios Chief Says
Starfield's development avoids crunch. The head of Xbox Game Studios is confident of the good atmosphere at studios working under Bethesda.
Source: Steam | Starfield
Crunch, or working for a excessive number of hours on a project, has been one of the biggest and most persistent problems in the gaming industry in recent years. Many developers have taken flak for this type of practice, and while there is no studio that is flawless, some have stirred up controversy more often than others. Bethesda, makers of such games as Skyrim or the upcoming Starfield, is one of them.
Crunch at Bethesda is a thing of the past
Bethesda has been bought by Microsoft and, according to its new bosses, it no longer has a crunch problem. In a recent Q&A conducted by Kotaku, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty discussed Bethesda's well-documented crunch problems in the past and announced that from the point of view of the developer and its studios, it is no longer a problem.
“I know from talking to Bethesda leadership that we do not have a situation where people are crunching and we’ve got this bullying atmosphere…I’m confident about that," said the head of Xbox Game Studios.
Don't take companies at their word when they say that the studios they own no longer engage in activities for which they have been criticized in the past, because they are not impartial. Of course, one can never be sure what goes on behind the scenes, but given how much light has been shed on this particular problem in the industry in recent years, there is certainly more pressure on studio executives to do a better job of organizing work time.
"I used to sleep under my desk."
Sometimes we don't realize that one of our favorite games is so polished precisely because of after-hours work.. During the interview Matt Booty recalled with a little nostalgia his early days in the game industry, when he worked longer hours than he should have.
“It was just part of the industry. I don’t say that to justify it, I’m just saying it was part of the culture of the industry. I literally slept under my desk early in my career. And we looked at that like a badge of honor.”
It is worth recalling that Starfield was supposed to debut on November 11 this year, but the developers have announced that the release will be delayed until the first half of 2023. The game will be available on PC and Xbox Series X consoles.
