Author: Trafficblast

Apex Legends developer Respawn’s new Star Wars game, Jedi Fallen Order, is coming up on its release in November. The time before release can be when developers push extra hard in what is known as a “crunch” period.

The game’s director, Stig Asmussen, has now shared his perspective on the practice of crunch and how the Jedi Fallen Order team worked to try to make sure its developers did not burn out. His comments came not long after top developers at CD Projekt Red (Cyberpunk 2077) and Crystal Dynamics (The Avengers) also spoke out about crunch, and you can see their thoughts further down the page.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Asmussen said Respawn never enforced crunch periods on Jedi Fallen Order–and that’s a change. For some of his past games (Asmussen was the game director for God of War III), he said he was part of teams that were forced to work extra long hours.

“Basically everybody said, ‘You’ve gotta work these hours,” and we realised that wasn’t a fair and sustainable approach [for Fallen Order].”

For Fallen Order, Asmussen said individual developers could decide what hours they wanted to work. “We left it up to the team,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Look, everybody I think carries their own responsibilities and their own tasks, and takes them very seriously, so why treat people like children, and say you have to be here at a certain time?'”

For those who want to work extra hours, “It’s your choice,” Asmussen said. Those who stay late were given “support,” including meals after hours, he added. On top of that, Asmussen said some of the project leads worked extra hours to show their team members that they are acting as a unit.

“We’re not going to tell you there are certain hours we’re going to be crunching at. You can make your own schedule, and the leads made a commitment to put in extra effort and extra hours as well to show that we’re all in it together,” Asmussen said.

“We understand your life outside of work is far more important than what you’re doing in the office, and we try to respect that.” — Asmussen

Even if Respawn did not enforce crunch or have their employees stick to strict schedules, some developers might feel pressured to work beyond what is normal to finish a project and demonstrate their commitment to colleagues and bosses. Eurogamer asked Asmussen if Respawn keeps a close eye on developers to ensure they are working in a healthy and safe manner, and the director responded emphatically.

“Absolutely,” Asmussen replied. “I know there are several times over the course of development where I told people to go home. You get so close to it you lose perspective, and not only that, you risk people burning out. At Respawn it’s a really big deal [that] we understand your life outside of work is far more important than what you’re doing in the office, and we try to respect that.”

Unlike the movie and TV industries, video game industry workers are largely non-unionized. People who work on movie and TV sets can typically only work a set number of hours based on their union contracts, but this kind of setup is considered to be rare in gaming. Over the years, various video game developers have been accused of demanding lengthy crunch periods, and the stories of burnout are prevalent.

Just recently, CD Projekt Red commented on the the vibe at the studio now with Cyberpunk 2077 entering the end of its production period ahead of its April 2020 release date. CD Projekt Red’s John Mamais, who heads up the company’s Krakow office, said everyone is “working really hard right now” to hit the deadline for Cyberpunk 2077. He said the team is excited by the positive reactions at industry events–like PAX Aus most recently–but that in turn creates pressure, and some developers feel like they are in a “vice.”

“You’re in a vice, in a way, which takes its toll on the team.” — CDPR Krakow’s John Mamais on how developers might feel

“I guess the vibe in the office is there’s always a level of excitement there based on results that we get from going to conferences like this [PAX Aus] and seeing people really excited about the game. So that keeps the hype up but it also puts some pressure on, so that’s kind of the vibe,” he said. “You’re in a vice, in a way, which takes its toll on the team but there is … a healthy, extrinsic kind of pressure to make [the team] really excel.”

Mamais added that working at CD Projekt Red is not for everyone–some have come in and found the experience too challenging. CD Projekt Red is trying to put practices in place to “keep the work under control,” Mamais said, though he acknowledged “it’s not always possible to do that.”

“There are a lot of people who come into the industry that are fresh; they don’t really understand what it takes to do it,” he said. “So we get a lot of new guys coming in, and they go, ‘Oh god, this is like too much.’ But then we have other guys come in from Rockstar Games, and they’re like, ‘This is not even crunch!’ We’re doing the best we can to keep the work under control. But sometimes when you’re doing some big-ass game like this, it’s not always possible to do that. It takes really hard work to make it really awesome.”

In October 2014, before the launch of CD Projekt Red’s acclaimed RPG The Witcher 3, the studio was accused of “crunching for over a year” in a bid to overcome development challenges.

Also at PAX Aus, Crystal Dynamics boss Scot Amos told GameSpot that the studio has a “family first” mentality for the ongoing development of The Avengers. “One of the things that I tell my team all the time: If you have a kid’s birthday, then go take care of your kid’s birthday, like what, what are you crazy?” he said.

Amos said he is aware of the “horror stories” about crunch in video games, but for Crystal Dynamics, he wants to have his team work in a “smart, balanced way.”

“We’ve actually changed everything from structures of how we do certain workdays with no meetings, go and get stuff done days which are very focused, ‘Hey, come in, and get your stuff done, we don’t want to interrupt you,’ we’ll provide meals free, whatever it is,” he added.

For more on these stories, check out GameSpot’s extended coverage below.

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The NPD Group has released its report for September 2019, revealing which games and consoles sold the best during the month in the United States. The report also provides an update on the overall health of the gaming industry–and September 2019 was harsh.

All categories–hardware, software, accessories, and game cards–experienced declines in sales. In total, spending across all sectors reached $1.278 billion, which is down eight percent year-over-year. On a year-to-date basis, total spending in all categories fell six percent to $8.3 billion. Drop-offs on hardware spending drove the decline, the NPD said.

This is expected given that the PS4 and Xbox One are in the end-stages of their lifecycles, with next-generation consoles from both Sony and Microsoft expected in Holiday 2020.

Moving to games specifically, NBA 2K20 was September’s best-selling title in the US. Its first-month sales were the highest for any sports game in history; the previous record-holder was NBA 2K19. Again, this list covers only the United States, where FIFA–a chart-topper in Europe and other parts of the world–is not as popular.

Also notable for the NBA 2K series is that, with September’s sales accounted for, the NBA 2K franchise passes Guitar Hero to become the sixth-biggest gaming franchise of all time in the US based on dollar sales.

Another big release in September was Borderlands 3, and it finished No. 2 behind NBA 2K20. Its launch-month sales represent a new first-month sales record for the franchise in the US. Globally, Borderlands 3 shipped five million copies in its first five days to become 2K’s fastest-selling game ever.

Coming in at No. 17 for September was the new Plants vs. Zombies game, Battle for Neighborville. It doesn’t officially release until October 18, but players who buy the Founder’s Pack can get in now, which explains why a game that hasn’t officially released landing on the charts.

Total dollar sales on video games in the US during September fell four percent to $732 million. The Xbox One and Nintendo Switch saw growth in games sales during September, but PS4 game sales slid. That drop-off was to be expected, given Sony’s blockbuster hit Spider-Man launched in September 2018.

Moving to hardware, the Switch was the best-selling console of September–it’s been on top now for months. It is also the best-selling console of 2019 overall.

Despite the strong Switch sales, total spending on consoles fell 22 percent to $240 million. The Switch was the only console to post sales gains in September and for the entire year so far in 2019.

Spending on accessories and game cards, meanwhile, dropped seven percent to $306 million.

The industry still has time to turn things around in 2019, as a number of big new releases are coming up, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (October 25) and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (November 15). There is also the Black Friday shopping bonanza that leads into the holiday shopping season where games should fly off shelves and help improve the fortunes of the industry.

September 2019 Best-Selling Games

1. NBA 2K20
2. Borderlands 3
3. FIFA 20
4. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening*
5. Madden NFL 20
6. Ghost Recon: Breakpoint
7. Gears 5^
8. Code Vein
9. NHL 20
10. Mario Kart 8*
11. Minecraft#
12. Grand Theft Auto V
13. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
14. Spyro Reignited Trilogy
15. Red Dead Redemption II
16. Rainbow Six Siege
17. Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
18. Spider-Man
19. Catherine
20. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*

• *Digital sales not included
• ^Steam digital sales not included
• #Digital sales on PS4 and Xbox One not included

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Capcom has many titles under its umbrella, including well-known and active franchises like Devil May Cry, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Street Fighter, and many more. Capcom has now said it wants to revive some of its dormant classics too.

In a recent investor report, company president and COO, Haruhiro Tsujimoto, spoke about Capcom’s plans for the future. Though he did not detail anything specific, Tsujimoto seems adamant about bringing back the classics.

“For the time being, while we are placing a priority on maximizing the revenue from current core IP, we are also actively looking to utilize dormant IP,” Tsujimoto said. “Further, as the creation of new IP is indispensable in generating medium- to long-term growth, we are working to develop new brands as well.”

Tsujimoto’s intentions seem firmly placed in the utilization of “dormant IP,” but it’s also worth noting that Tsujimoto notes the company is actively seeking ways to “develop new brands.” This could mean Capcom is working on all-new franchises to introduce to its fanbase, but Tsujimoto did not clarify this statement.

Tsujimoto also talked about microtransactions and the monetization models for Capcom’s titles, confirming that the company frequently “refrains” from implementing gacha mechanics in its mobile games.