Editing Video game developer (section)

===Crunch===
{{Main|Crunch (video games)}}
Some video game developers and publishers have been accused of the excessive invocation of "crunch time".<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.cnet.com/news/no-fun-for-game-developers/|title = No fun for game developers?|work = [[CNet News]]|last = Frauenheim|first = Ed|date = 11 November 2004|access-date = 17 September 2018|archive-date = 3 April 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190403165442/https://www.cnet.com/news/no-fun-for-game-developers/|url-status = live}}</ref> "Crunch time" is the point at which the team is thought to be failing to achieve milestones needed to launch a game on schedule. The complexity of workflow, reliance on third-party deliverables, and the intangibles of artistic and aesthetic demands in video game creation create difficulty in predicting milestones.<ref name="cjc ea spouses">{{cite journal|last1=Dyer-Witheford|first1=Nick|last2=de Peuter|first2=Greig|year=2006|title=" EA Spouse" and the Crisis of Video Game Labour: Enjoyment, Exclusion, Exploitation, Exodus.|journal=Canadian Journal of Communication|volume=31|issue=3|pages=599–617|doi=10.22230/cjc.2006v31n3a1771|doi-access=free}}</ref> The use of crunch time is also seen to be exploitative of the younger workforce in video games, who have not had the time to establish a family and who were eager to advance within the industry by working long hours.<ref name="cjc ea spouses"/><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/ea-spouse-14-years-later-w517096 | title = EA Spouse, 14 Years Later: How One Person Tried Correcting EA Culture | first = Matt | last = Paprocki | date = February 27, 2018 | work = [[Glixel]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180227000133/https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/ea-spouse-14-years-later-w517096 | archive-date = February 27, 2018 }}</ref> Because crunch time tends to come from a combination of corporate practices as well as peer influence, the term "crunch culture" is often used to discuss video game development settings where crunch time may be seen as the norm rather than the exception.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/crunch-culture-consequences | title = Crunch Culture Consequences | first = Jared | last = McCarty | date = October 15, 2019 | access-date = February 3, 2020 | work = [[Gamasutra]] | archive-date = August 25, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210825145532/https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JaredMcCarty/20191015/352172/Crunch_Culture_Consequences.php | url-status = live }}</ref>

The use of crunch time as a workplace standard gained attention first in 2004, when [[Erin Hoffman]] exposed the use of crunch time at [[Electronic Arts]], a situation known as the "EA Spouses" case.<ref name="cjc ea spouses" /> A similar "Rockstar Spouses" case gained further attention in 2010 over working conditions at [[Rockstar San Diego]].<ref name="Eurogamer: Rockstar Spouse">{{cite web|last=Bramwell|first=Tom|date=January 11, 2010|title="Rockstar Spouse" attacks dev conditions|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/rockstar-spouse-attacks-studio-conditions|access-date=October 31, 2017|website=[[Eurogamer]]|archive-date=October 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030201507/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/rockstar-spouse-attacks-studio-conditions|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="GamesIndustry.biz: Rockstar Spouse">{{cite web|last=Brice|first=Kath|date=January 11, 2010|title="Rockstar Spouse" accuses dev of pushing its employees "to the brink"|url=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/rockstar-spouse-accuses-dev-of-pushing-its-employees-to-the-brink|access-date=October 31, 2017|website=[[GamesIndustry.biz]]|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107025836/http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/rockstar-spouse-accuses-dev-of-pushing-its-employees-to-the-brink|url-status=live}}</ref> Since then, there has generally been negative perception of crunch time from most of the industry as well as from its consumers and other media.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/03/24/crunch-laws/ | title = Why is the games industry so burdened with crunch? It starts with labor laws. | first = Michael | last = Thomsen | date = March 24, 2021 | access-date = August 19, 2021 | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | archive-date = October 15, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211015170730/https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/03/24/crunch-laws/ | url-status = live }}</ref>