According to Polygon, the company uses this practice in their day-to-day business and uses it to set release dates.
A few minutes ago, we told you something new about LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. The title, which has caught the attention of fans of the George Lucas franchise, has confirmed its release for the 5th of April through a gameplay trailer. However, a short time later another news related to TT Games, the developer behind this adventure. An article denouncing a constant crunch in the offices.
This comes as a result of an investigation of polygonal, who has chatted with more than 30 workers and former employees of TT Games to learn about the experience within the company. As those affected say, this practice has been established within the developer since the first successes of LEGO in video games in the mid-2000s. With the success of Lego Star Wars: The Video Game and the acquisition of the publisher Giant Interactive, which has given way to what we know as TT Games, the studio had the crunch to release games on an annual basis.
Bosses followed employees out of the studio and asked why they were leavingpolygonalIn the case of TT Games, this practice does not only refer to the extension of working hours, but also refers to totally unnecessary harassment and investigations: “Six former employees who worked for Jon Burton, co-founder and creative director at TT Games, they say that used to yell at the team to get them back to their desks if they tried to leave work on time, and that he normally expected employees to do Extra hours“, reads Polygon. “While others remember chiefs following employees out of the studio, to ask why they were leaving and their loyalty to the job.”
Although unfortunately we know of cases in the industry where the crunch occurs to get to the release date on time, it seems that this is not the case at TT Games. “A big problem was that the crunch was premeditated“explains a former worker. “It was not an emergency protocol for when things went wrong. Rather, it was a tool in the box for production; the projects they were planned with periods of crunch on the calendar, or even worse, the crunch it was the calendar”.
TT always said ‘Let’s change’, but we all knew that was never going to happenEx employeeAs expected, this kind of situation had a serious impact on the morale of the developers, who were tired of hearing empty promises that were never carried out: “The spirit [en el estudio de Knutsford] always was by soil“, a former employee tells Polygon. “People were burnt out, tired, mentally and physically sick from the pressure. TT always said ‘Let’s change’, but we all knew that was never going to happen. It was always the case of ‘Just one more game and then we’ll do it differently.
On the other hand, Polygon’s research has also brought to light a hostile environment for female employees, who worked between comments about their appearance, bullying and impediments in promotions and contracts. In addition to this, TT Games workers also denounce a salary difference between men and women, the latter group being the one that received a lower amount.
It was always the case of ‘Just one more game and then we’ll do it differently’Ex employeeAnd all this ends up closing the chain with the development of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. From the beginning of the project, the TT Games team insisted on using Unreal Engine to create the title, which led to the creation of a small LEGO Star Wars test that the colleagues liked a lot. However, the administration was determined to develop the adventure with the graphics engine NTT, created by the same company, which at that time was still quite unstable.
The engine took three times as long to do a simple animation, had no necessary features, often crashed and sometimes crashed. did not save progress of the project. This is followed by the implementation of mechanics that did not fit with the game’s proposal, as they explain about a complicated combat tree that was ultimately scrapped. “The director asked for new mechanics like a whim, so I wanted them to be changed, without ever fixing anything that really mattered,” details a former employee. “Read all the reviews of a LEGO game. They always say the same [cosas]: ‘the platforming is bad, the camera is terrible, it does not have cooperative online’. Then let’s add a God of War-style combat! 5-year-olds will love it.”
After some changes in the members of the administration, the employees have noticed improvementsThe existence of crunch is already well known in the industry, as cases such as Naughty Dog, BioWare or the experiences of different developers throughout the pandemic have come to light. Regardless, in 2020 TT Games made changes among the management members, which has led to slightly significant improvements and a most positive opinion among employees in recent months.
However, the Polygon report ends with a general reflection of all employees asked about the crunch in the company: “As for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, a mix of current and former employees say they are waiting for the final results to satisfy their the fans, but they wonder why the team had to endure so much to get to this point“.
More about: LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, TT Games and Crunch.