CDPR Bosses in 2019: "No mandatory crunch." 2020: "Never mind, mandatory crunch."

[Gamer @ Heart]

Wanting to look like the good guys is so easy until it's time to deliver.

These devs must have been crunching since the middle of last year until the announced delay to this year, and now even more after the Nov delay

 

[Doc Laserstein]

A trash company with trash leadership, so not a surprise.

 

[bloodyroarx]

The reply chain In Jason's tweet that summed up as plans change and Jason saying if this was a reversal about mtx then everyone would have an issue about this

 

[Tommi]

Could anyone explain why delaying only prolongs crunch? You would think the workload that they have now would just spread into bite-sized pieces? Is it the case that you can always polish something more?

 

[Silver-Streak]

Look CDPR. Meet with your staff. Find out what is an actual *reasonable* time to get the work done, with humane work hours.

Give yourself a 10-20% buffer. THen announce that date as the new release date. It's absolutely a better option than destroying your workforce.

 

[Tiny Hawk]

It sucks, but I'm not surprised by it.

 

[Serene]

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Should be pinned to every single crunch post because the replies are always "delay it"

You don't solve crunch by delaying things, you solve it by unionizing and forcing studios to play by the rules.

 

[SJRB]

They're going into crunch NOW..?

Uh oh...

 

[Shark]

Like why did they even promise crunch wasn't gonna happen when that's baked into the creation of these things.

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Because it suited them at the time when they were getting pushback from Schreier's reporting.

 

[Eeyore]

The reply chain In Jason's tweet that summed up as plans change and Jason saying if this was a reversal about mtx then everyone would have an issue about this

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Jason is completely right. I doubt the chuds on YouTube will cover crunch in the same way as mtx unless other parts of the game annoyed them, like in TLOU2. So people tend to ignore it.

 

[Mecha]

Delaying has never stopped crunch, in fact, it just means they'd be crunching for an even longer period

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Pretty fucked up that the employees always have to pay the price.

 

[Deleted member 17184]

I'm curious to know what "typical amount of work" means.

 

[chefbags]

I had to quit I couldn't feel my feet after work.

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Yeah somehow I've lasted years before covid. My feet has just major calluses bumps now and my knees are definitely fucked.

 

[Kyrona]

I'm at work, can someone edit that picture of the lawyer from the Simpsons for this?

 

[OdjnRyu]

Delay the game. Let people have their weekends. Nobody's getting the new GeForce cards in time for Cyberpunk anyway.

 

[Dark Ninja]

Everything this forum loves to jump down the throats of other companies is on full display with this game and its getting a pass by many. I love it the hypocrisy.

 

[disparate]

lol who would do this without getting paid 2-3x, and even then honestly...

 

[Expy]

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Of course you're not going to let the staff "let up" when you announce a delay. They still need to press as hard as they were the delay.

 

[platocplx]

At this point I'd rather for them to release all versions together somewhere in 2021 tbh.

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Yep but even a delay doesn't help em

 

[bloodyroarx]

Jason is completely right. I doubt the chuds on YouTube will cover crunch in the same way as mtx unless other parts of the game annoyed them, like in TLOU2. So people tend to ignore it.

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100% agree and it's pitiful

 

[Dougieflesh]

What a shit company.

 

[CRIMSON-XIII]

So, if they delayed the game to December 11th, 2020. That is 3 weeks later and one day...Can they have a better work schedule and do that without the crunch? .

 

[Deleted member 54073]

I don't think many companies avoid crunch when leading up to release. Definitely not something that's exclusive to CDPR.

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Then I guess they're all terrible? Doesn't make my statement wrong.

 

[Blanquito]

well that's.... stupid.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Yeah a delay is the obvious answer but that won't help the team members that have already been working overtime for god knows how long. He's full of shit and has been since before this mandatory call. This project has always been too aggressively targeting an impossible date and should have always been a 2021 title.

They're going into crunch NOW..?

Uh oh...

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Nah its just mandatory in email form now. It's likely a lot of people working on this game have felt pressured to work overtime for a while.

 

[Deleted member 18944]

Where is the fucking lie here, man? God damn Jason is on point.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Yep but even a delay doesn't help em

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True. Delays just means more crunching

 

[platocplx]

I just dont get how these projects are run so poorly

 

[Deleted member 14377]

This company is just lip service all around. Nothing positive they say or do seems to have any meaning, both in regards to it's employees and the LGBTQ+ community

WAIT IS THAT KEANU REEVES?!

 

[fanboy]

We know that delays just make crunching last longer.. so what can be done to eradicate crunch from AAA development? Would delaying Cyberpunk by a half a year or full year erase the need to crunch?

If they have to crunch for two whole months, that adds up something like 30 more hours per week? Maximum 300 hours until launch? Delaying this game for another 3 months would cover the work that otherwise would be done in crunch overtime, right?

Delays just create more crunch, but why? The game has to be shipped at some point. Is it more of a question of changing gameplay, design, cutscenes or whatever rather than bug fixing? So they delay a game so they can make some changes while crunching?

 

[itamarfranco]

The reality is there isn't one AAA game the size of cyberpunk that doesn't have crunch. Period. Not Valve, Naughty Dog, Platinum Games, Rockstar, ID Software, Square Enix, nobody. Like why did they even promise crunch wasn't gonna happen when that's baked into the creation of these things.

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For Valve to crunch, they'd have to actually make games.

 

[Lothars]

CDPR is a garbage company and always has been, this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

 

[rajinus]

Yikes!

 

[tok9]

Should be pinned to every single crunch post because the replies are always "delay it"

You don't solve crunch by delaying things, you solve it by unionizing and forcing studios to play by the rules.

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I don't entirely agree with that. If something is delayed and planned accordingly, it can work.

I don't work in the games industry so can't speak to it but from my current IT occupation, I've experience both good and bad delays where some are just awful, give another week and get it done and in cases there is a delay where people actually look at the reality of the situation. I'm not suggesting it's easy but the blanket delay automatically leads to more crunch isn't really the truth either.

 

[Couscous]

What a surpise! People could've seen this coming from a mile away. The game is out in less than two months and we haven't even seen the console versions of the game. The devs are probably crunchinf right now to optimize the game.

 

[Jogi]

This was never surprising. It's clear that both consoles are coming in hot as are the games and there is no doubt that crunch widespread. They need bargaining power to avoid it or nothing will change.

 

[Pancracio17]

Delaying means missing the holiday console launch, and I guess the management decided that nope. Crunch time.

Have CDPR devs done mandatory crunch at all this year outside of this?

 

[Sky87]

Then I guess they're all terrible? Doesn't make my statement wrong.

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That's true, but buying any AAA game these days mean you're buying something that involved crunch in some form. Likely the same in other industries as well, the movie industry especially.

 

[Deleted member 17388]

Delays just create more crunch, but why?

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Terrible management from higher-ups.

 

[GJ]

I thought they said the game was finished earlier this year and all they were doing was polishing it? This doesn't sound like they're "just polishing" the game.

 

[disparate]

You know what they could have done? Fewer features, lesser graphical fidelity, lessen the complexity of certain game systems. This isn't solved with delays or by giving devs more power, it's lessened by having people in charge be able to say "no" to new features, enhancements, and scope creep.

 

[Adrifi]

So, if they delayed the game to December 11th, 2020. That is 3 weeks later and one day...Can they have a better work schedule and do that without the crunch? .

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Three weeks is nothing in AAA development, that's why you don't usually see delays for that amount of time, it's mostly more time than that. If the game is delayed again it will probably be delayed until something like January minimum, which is why they don't wanna delay it, they don't want to miss the new consoles' launch and Christmas.

 

[Serene]

I just dont get how these projects are run so poorly

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It's not poorly run as if it got away from them, it's by design. When you know there's no union in place to push back on you, the crunch is baked into the plan. Always is.

 

[Perzeval]

CDPR Boss: Can it really be called crunch if they're working from home? Do I even know if they're working?

 

[Kevin360]

Okay, so for all of the people replying with "But a delay wouldn't help!"... I am genuinely curious what the suggested solution is here.

Delay it and have no crunch, or release it as is with bugs and less polish that will get ironed out over the next few months.

 

[Astandahl]

I thought they said the game was finished earlier this year and all they were doing was polishing it? This doesn't sound like they're "just polishing" the game.

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Polishing the game is actually one of the most important part of development these days. The games are so big that there are probably an insane amount of bugs and "rough edges" that need to be fixed in order to meet expectations from critics and public.

 

[Ricker]

What if most people agree though and what if they do not force the people that just cant do it,I mean especially in these times of higher anxiety and stress because of the Pandemic and all...if this report is true I honestly think the game will be delayed again if not enough people agree to the crunch,plain and simple...or I am simply just naive...we shall see.

 

[CNoodles]

There a certain industries that are known to have mandatory overtime, that is something to take into account when choosing a profession. At least they are getting paid a lot of money for their time.

 

[FormatCompatible]

Where is the fucking lie here, man? God damn Jason is on point.

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There's truly no lies there. The priorities are always baffling but not surprising.

Same with the people pretending they would be hurting the devs if they didn't buy the game based on a TERF's ip.

 

[MinerArcaniner]

I am shocked, SHOCKED that their promises "to do better" in Jason's piece last year were just PR fluff.

There's truly no lies there. The priorities are always baffling but not surprising.

Same with the people pretending they would be hurting the devs if they didn't buy the game based on a TERF's ip.

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Gamers flip-flopping between hardnosed capitalists and armchair freedom fighters, depending on the IP/studio, is the absolute worst.