08-06-2019, 05:28 PM
The Outer Worlds Developer Speaks Out Against Crunch
<p>With crunch becoming an increasingly hot-button topic in the games industry, many developers are <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wolfenstein-dev-trying-to-eliminate-crunch/1100-6466842/">speaking out</a> against the ruthless work environments employees at high-profile studios like <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnites-breakout-success-resulted-in-heavy-dev-c/1100-6466418/">Epic Games</a> and <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/red-dead-redemption-2-devs-talk-crunch-and-working/1100-6462631/">Rockstar</a> routinely face. <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/the-outer-worlds/">The Outer Worlds</a> developer Obsidian Entertainment is one such studio, saying it is "very committed" to keeping its work environment crunch-free.</p><p>In <a href="https://www.pcgamesn.com/the-outer-worlds/obsidian-crunch">an interview with PCGamesN</a>, The Outer Worlds' senior designer, Brian Hines, said crunch is not in the studio's development formula. "Obsidian is not a crunch studio, which is one of the things that keeps people staying there for a long time," Hines said. Though he admitted employees are sometimes asked to stay longer in order "to meet a deadline," Hines assured that these extra hours were "always [just] a request" and last for only "a week or so."</p><p>Hines also confirmed the individual developers always have the right to exercise their autonomy, declining the request if they so choose. "There really hasn't been a crunch or a death march or anything like that with the studio for quite a long time, as far as I can remember anyway," Hines said. "That's definitely one of the things that as a studio we're very committed to. [W]e'd rather cut something than try and get people to not have a life outside of the industry."</p><p>The Outer Worlds is set to launch on October 25 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The upcoming first-person RPG is <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/obsidian-rpg-the-outer-worlds-coming-to-nintendo-s/1100-6468761/">also coming to Nintendo Switch</a>, though no release date has been confirmed as of yet. It might not be "<a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-outer-worlds-is-not-a-politically-charged-game/1100-6468250/">politically charged</a>," but The Outer Worlds is shaping up to be <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-outer-worlds-the-familiarity-and-flaws-of-spac/1100-6466079/">a modern homage</a> to <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/fallout-new-vegas/">Fallout: New Vegas</a>.</p>
<p>With crunch becoming an increasingly hot-button topic in the games industry, many developers are <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wolfenstein-dev-trying-to-eliminate-crunch/1100-6466842/">speaking out</a> against the ruthless work environments employees at high-profile studios like <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnites-breakout-success-resulted-in-heavy-dev-c/1100-6466418/">Epic Games</a> and <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/red-dead-redemption-2-devs-talk-crunch-and-working/1100-6462631/">Rockstar</a> routinely face. <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/the-outer-worlds/">The Outer Worlds</a> developer Obsidian Entertainment is one such studio, saying it is "very committed" to keeping its work environment crunch-free.</p><p>In <a href="https://www.pcgamesn.com/the-outer-worlds/obsidian-crunch">an interview with PCGamesN</a>, The Outer Worlds' senior designer, Brian Hines, said crunch is not in the studio's development formula. "Obsidian is not a crunch studio, which is one of the things that keeps people staying there for a long time," Hines said. Though he admitted employees are sometimes asked to stay longer in order "to meet a deadline," Hines assured that these extra hours were "always [just] a request" and last for only "a week or so."</p><p>Hines also confirmed the individual developers always have the right to exercise their autonomy, declining the request if they so choose. "There really hasn't been a crunch or a death march or anything like that with the studio for quite a long time, as far as I can remember anyway," Hines said. "That's definitely one of the things that as a studio we're very committed to. [W]e'd rather cut something than try and get people to not have a life outside of the industry."</p><p>The Outer Worlds is set to launch on October 25 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The upcoming first-person RPG is <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/obsidian-rpg-the-outer-worlds-coming-to-nintendo-s/1100-6468761/">also coming to Nintendo Switch</a>, though no release date has been confirmed as of yet. It might not be "<a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-outer-worlds-is-not-a-politically-charged-game/1100-6468250/">politically charged</a>," but The Outer Worlds is shaping up to be <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-outer-worlds-the-familiarity-and-flaws-of-spac/1100-6466079/">a modern homage</a> to <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/fallout-new-vegas/">Fallout: New Vegas</a>.</p>