CDPR Lead Technical Designer Łukasz Szczepankowski commented on the recent controversy that surrounded the studio for the mandatory crunch until the release of Cyberpunk 2077.
Jason Schreier isn't a real journalist because he doesn't understand the values real journalists hold on to. He has deliberately buried stories because he didn't like the politics of the people. For example, Colin Moriarty's panel at PAX being revoked.
Jason Schreier sees himself as a hero but that isn't the case. He pushed this story about CD Projekt staff having to work an extra day for six weeks as if it was a terrible crime. I've worked 6 day weeks for much lower money and it wasn't slavery it was a job. The problem is he is playing for a clique group of blogger friends that would likely applaud him if passed wind, and he has lost touch with what real people think.
US games 'journalism' has abandoned objectivity and is now about individuals promoting their personal politics.
@pumble not a big fan of all his work either, but I do think he does more in depth work than 99% of the journalists, also on topics that most of the journalists hardly talk about. Too bad he presents it too sensational most of the time.
I am a fan of Schreier. I don't agree with the way he always does things or with all his personal beliefs. But Crunch is bad CD Projekt Red recognizes this. They are aware of the optics on the current situation. Does Schreier paint them as a bigger villain than they might actually be? Possibly. But CD Red is also doing the opposite of what they said they were going to do a year ago. To the people saying he isn't a real journalist, I say this; He is one of the few real journalists in games media. That is just a fact. Anyone who says otherwise is blowing smoke.
A lot of developers are dunking on Jason these days.
All he's doing is reporting dangerous work conditions. Last time, it was Naughty Dog reacting to Jason's tweet that said, "Games don't need to be so long."
The fact of the matter is, the industry making crunch the new normal is BAD for the industry and more importantly, BAD for its workers.
We're not talking about the usual staying after work for half an hour or an hour to finish what you're working on.
This was an order by the executives for their staff to work 6-day weeks for several weeks. And this happened after CD Projekt publicly pledged that they have stopped implementing crunch.
I am baffled as to why people are so easy to accept this. This is the start of a slippery slope that ends with sweat shops and low pay. Ever heard of the phrase - Work more for less?
Work has inherently 0 value until YOU give it value. That's what it means to fight for worker's rights. Why throw it away just so we can play The Last of Us 2 or Cyberpunk?
I work at a hospital and we frequently have mandatory 7-day weeks temporarily in specific situations and always have 7 day 24/7 on-call. Hardly think a 6-day week is considered crunch....
I get what you're saying but the problem is Jason seems to just throw the word 'crunch' around with little nuance.
The criticism should fit the level of the infraction. Working 6 Saturdays just isn't the kind of thing that caused crunch to be the buzzword it is today but Jason tried to sensationalise it anyway - presumably for clicks and relevance.
During my busy season which runs for 4 months of the year, I'll do a minimum of 10 hrs during the week and 5-6 hrs on the weekend. In that 4 month period I'll be lucky to 5 days off.
It just how it is, and I tell everyone that we employ over that period to expect longer than normal hrs.
CDPR has done nothing wrong, and people just like to make things a bigger issue than they are.
Dangerous working conditions? I guess I under estimated how dangerous all them office chairs, hot cups of coffee and paper shredders can be. Try working on the roads, digging out a broken gas main in the dark while it's raining for 14hrs. Bet I don't earn as much as them guys.
You kids will grow up one day and see this in a completely different light. I’m sure crunch is included in the contract otherwise it couldn't be done so they did agreed to it on day one. And you never forced to stay in the company you don't like working for any of those cdpr employees can get they ass off the chair and walk out!
CRUNCH IS NOT AS BIG DEAL AS SOME MAKING IT OUT!!! especially when is rewarded $$$ and applies to all employees
I take it you have never had a job in retail over Xmas? Because overtime is mandatory/expected and you would get literally nowhere if you didn't take the overtime on. I know as a fact if I do overtime over Xmas and my work is great come pay review in January I'll be online for a larger rise in March than I would be if I didn't abd I think that is perfectly fair and reasonable. Just as 6 days overtime isn't the end of the world. Xmas in retail sector is starting now and ends end of jan.... plenty of people will work 6 day weeks for most of that period.
LOL. A mad dash at the end of a software project is hard work (and has always been a thing), but it's not "dangerous" in any meaningful sense of the term. It's hardly working in a coal mine. Man people are soft these days. Victim culture run amok. It's borderline Marxist rhetoric. People who don't think this way are going to take all these jobs away from those who do and rightfully so.
Im wondering if these crunch time criers are the same people who slack off throughout most of the project, which contributes directly to the amount of "crunch time" required at the end of the project. Sounds like it.
Crunching isn't even that bad depending on the environment. CDProjekt's environment is clean and calm. I have worked 12 hour shifts from Monday to Saturday in some production line before for 3 months straight.
Trust me, they got it made if their 40 dollars an hour turns into 60 just for an extra day at work for 2 months. At least they weren't made to do it the whole development process and are getting paid bonuses.
Step in my shoes and instead of talking trash, you'll love doing an extra day developing a video game for a fat paycheck.
Jason is a joke. Every game developer has spoken out about how he speaks out his ass. He had no idea what game development is like today. I’ve seen Niel Druckmann and Cory barlog arguing with him through Twitter, now CDPR. Perhaps the heads of the best gaming developers out there.
Jason is awful honestly his journalism is most always self serving hit pieces. Forget trying to have a conversation with him if your opinion differs. He’ll just block you like he does everyone else including recently Paris.
Im all for holding CDPR accountable for going against their own word regarding "crunch". But the truth is, overtime/crunch happens in many fields when working on big projects. So long as they are getting the proper compensation for the extra work. I don't see any reason to believe their devs are being taken advantage of or mistreated, at least for now.
I do not think it will. Time and time again this gen “drama” has hit every major new or returning famous ip, the games still sold if they are good... when the Witcher 3 is still selling, cyberpunk will have no issues probably breaking records this year regardless, if by some strange reason, it is not good. Not matter the drama.
i think drama is a good thing. It gets peoples attention and they wonder whats all the fuss about and investigate only to find out the game is cool and they get into it. Of course in this case it works out that way. But it also works out a good way when a game is bad because it gives people the heads up, they look into it to see whether it is true, and it is so they avoid it and that saves people money.
It's too big to not have drama. I notice the likes of Kotaku are already warming up a shitstorm come release...and yes it's exactly like you'd imagine :
I expect tons of things in the game to be deemed 'problematic' to journalists.
So fully expect more left-leaning publications to follow suit. However, I also think this will ultimately be good for the game in terms of sales and popularity, like Joker was last year.
Yea, when people talk about crunch I think only having time for working and sleeping for weeks in a row, not working 1 extra day a week for a few weeks....
Even working 7 days a week for a temporary time-frame is hardly that unreal. 15 hour days or 90 hour weeks, that is what I think of with crunch and inhumane working conditions.
Something that sone industries do practice. Look at stockbrokers and stuff apparently 30+ hour days is not that uncommon at the top of that industry its gotten better now things are more automated but....
I'm happy most of the posts are matching with my perspective of the situation. I was worried entering this conversation that CD would be condemned. Really... Honestly... If my position required me to work overtime and I did not want to, I would re-evaluate if it was so dire. Not sure on the economy in Poland, but I'd be willing to take a pay cut if that was the situation. Really sad that this is happening to normal companies.
oh you just wait. These so-called journalists will be slating this game as it gets closer to release date. You will see. especially the reviews. it be like stupid reasons for it being a poor game because "too much shooting and guns" or "too futuristic" or "the player has too much choice in deciding what to do to get a different outcome in missions that they cant decide" They probably already written parts of the review from what is revealed to the public.
Jason Schrier is going to become game studio executive’s worst nightmare. I mean it’s good we get someone watching out for the game devs so they aren’t being taken advantage of.
I mean he is an investigative journalist, not a "IGN" style journalist. His job is to give us the scoop on things and report the facts as he knows it, not to become cozy and friends with the devs.
These devs are working 6 extra days (1 weekend day) over the next 6 weeks. And they are projected to each earn $50,000 USD bonus on this game's revenue which is 10x the total average annual salary in Poland (most families make about $5,000USD max). Jason is a dickhead activist and you have no clue what you are talking about bud. Nothing worth being great comes easy and CDPR is going to reap the fruits of their labors.
He not an activist. He's a vulture or vampire, whichever. There is no way Mr. Bloomberg would sacrifice anything for the benefit of the workers. He only writes about it to get paid.
I see people going after Jason Schreier, saying he isn't a real journalist or a joke. What i have observed is that, some people only have issue with him when he goes after companies they like. I pointed this out before, people were literally and still point to his article when going after Naughty Dog. I personally don't recall seeing anyone going after him when he broke story, everyone and their mother with a YouTube channel made videos using his article as proof, now he goes after CD project, and all of a sudden some gamers go after him. Why?
I have an issue how he talks to people and belittles them. He can write all the factual stories he wants but as soon as his personality gets into anything it’s ruined. He has a giant ego and refuses to listen to anyone other than himself.
I will take a wild guess and say you had no problem with him breaking the news about Sony and Naughty Dog or how he defend himself during that time period. As I said, I only see people questioning or going after him when he goes after a company they like.
@redemption. I said it above and I’ll say it again. I have no problem with him running factual stories, I have an issue with... see above. Long crunch is bad. Short term crunch like a week or two is fine if workers are compensated. I had a family member in games that worked 80+ hour crunch for months and was still only paid salary. His choice though.
Agreed 100%. He may have an unlikeable personality but that's irrelevant to the stories he writes.
If people can prove it to be false, then fine. But that's not what's going on. They are hating on him because he's reporting truth they don't wanna hear.
I'm not sure that's entirely true. Sometimes maybe.
However, he doesn't just report facts. He often embellishes and sensationalises for clicks.
He implies, for example, that CDPR broke their word or promise but they said 9 months ago there would be crunch, something he intentionally neglected to mention.
the difference between what naughty dog does for grind/crunch compared to cd project red is like night and day though. working one extra day six times compared to what was probably 1000's of hours at naughty dog because they're perfectionist crazies who just expect you to work extra regardless of whether or not it's crunch time or anything they just expect it. I have no beef with jason though. Regardless of his personality I like the news he reports on to the point that it's actual news from vetted sources.
My view on crunch has changed over the years though. I've worked in factories and other industries and we got paid over time but it's no less of a hurdle except it doesn't make headlines because it's how things go and we're not glamourous devs in the eyes of gamers. Nobody reports on all the factories having over time for the 10th month in a row or anything but if you work for a game company sitting at a desk writing code that isn't back breaking work you're somehow over extending yourself and need to be defended. Anyone in the video game industry knows they have crunch and expects it for the most part.
A game company crunching only right before release is a common thing that isn't indicative of a bad enviroment or work area. Naughty dog had been crunching for months on end due to their poor management and structure. The other problem is many companies in the U.S. like Activision try to weasel their way out of paying their employees what they are owed, whereas CDPR doesn't. They also don't operate without structure like ND, nor do they treat their QA testers like absolute trash. Huge difference between them all.
That’s because he talks out his ass. The stuff he said about naughty dog ended up being completely false. He claimed they required mandatory crunch but in actuality the opposite was true. Naughty dog tried to make people go home during the weekends, and stop staying late. Employees ended up getting upset and complaining . Naughty dog hires perfectionist with OCD, and apparent workaholics. So when they tried to stop crunch culture the employees became upset. Jason tried to make naughty dog out to be this heartless corporate money machine, which is very far from the truth.
I don’t get why people make such a big deal over crunch time. It’s not exclusive to the games industry, and it’s sort of to be expected to be a thing devs have to do from time to time.
F em. Do you. Jason was probably jealous cdpr devs make more than him idk why that just sounds like something that would bother jason, what a joke. "HOW DARE THEY GET AN EXTRA WORK DAY ADDED... WITH EXTRA PAY THEY MUST BE EXHAUSTED SO EVIL" Sounds very jason-y to me. Followed by a block on twitter to whoever questions him because he can't ever be wrong apparently.
Look, most people that work adult jobs know crunch and overtime is just a part of the job. Look into anything about the game industry and you’ll see from the very beginning there’s always been crunch.
It hasn’t been until this recent “outrage culture” that this sh*t has been all, “that’s so unfair and inhumane”. The truth is they get paid well and sometimes, regardless of good management, people need to make a deadline and it requires sacrificing your weekends and working extra hours.
I work overtime all the time with my job. Sometimes some works are urgent and you can’t just slack off and hurry home. Now I’m not saying that this is easy for those developers, but let not pretend like they have to work overtime for every single day without getting any additional payments or bonuses.
I think the real issue here is distinguishing extreme cases of crunch from mild cases of it. A few six day weeks at the end of a project for a nice bonus seems reasonable in this industry.
Now if CDPR were pulling the same kind of crap that Telltale did a few years back where they forced contract workers to work double time for months only to let them go as soon as the project ended, that shit has “devs need to unionize” written all over it.
Jason works for clicks, so everything needs to be sensational every week. He’s still the only real journalist left in this industry so let’s give him our support. Otherwise, it’s just IGN giving every piece of garbage a 9.5 out of 10 until the end of time.
They've been more upfront than most companies and did a great job limiting mandatory overtime.
Also, the misinformation that Jason helped spread was nasty. You can see so many people reacting based on things that simply aren't true. Where are the journos and their fact-finding missions then, eh?
For example, CDPR never promised no crunch and therefore didn't renege on anything. In fact, they said 9 months ago there would be crunch.
This developers is one of the good guys. Why? because theyre the one doing free upgrades with their old game, price of cyberpunk is the same compare to other tittles. As a consumer thats a plus and consider one of the good guys.
If people don't want crunch, which i don't either, then the fans need to stop throwing a temper tantrum every time a game gets delayed. "Then they shouldn't have given a release date!" Well, shit happens. Projects in every industry run into unexpected roadblocks and get delayed all the time. Game development is no different. Crunch MAY go away if there wasn't a complete inability to understand that shit happens and things need adjustments sometimes. "When its done" should be a perfectly acceptable answer...... unless its star citizen. That shit is a scam...... LET THE FLAME WAR BEGIN!!!!!
oh boy, that's definitely a jab at Jason.
Looking forward to this game, hope the drama doesn't ruin it
Welcome to 2020, where everyone inflates minor inconveniences and non-issues into "movements" so they can white knight a virtue signal for clout.
Sounds about right.
Jason Schrier is going to become game studio executive’s worst nightmare. I mean it’s good we get someone watching out for the game devs so they aren’t being taken advantage of.