“Getting a weekend away from work is a major achievement”Įpic launched Fortnite Battle Royale in September 2017 as a free game, in which 100 players are dropped onto an island, fighting one another until only one remains. Many workers in the game industry are hired as contractors, further limiting their rights. Some, such as Game Workers Unite, are calling for game industry workers to unionize in order to protect their rights. But in the age of early access releases, post-launch updates, downloadable content, and games as a service, crunch can be a constant problem. In the game industry specifically, it was generally associated with the period leading up to a game’s launch.
Some reported suffering health issues after working consecutive months of 70-hour weeks.Ĭrunch is the name given to working intense overtime, sometimes for stretches that last weeks or months. Contract staff in Epic’s quality assurance and customer service departments spoke of a stressful and hostile working environment in which working overtime - while officially voluntary - was an expected service to the company.Īlthough contract staff were paid overtime, developers report a culture of fear, in which they were expected to pull long hours as part of their job. In a dozen interviews conducted by Polygon over a period of several months, current and former employees say they regularly worked in excess of 70-hour weeks, with some reporting 100-hour weeks. But the game’s explosive growth led to months of intense crunch for Epic employees and contractors, some of whom say they felt extreme pressure to work grueling hours to maintain Fortnite’s success and profitability, resulting in a toxic, stressful environment at the company. The popularity of Fortnite has been transformative for Epic Games.
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