Ex-343i Dev Says His Comment On Crunch Was Taken Out of Context For Halo Infinite

Earlier, the comments made by a former Halo Infinite dev were shared by several outlets online, but he has now clarified his earlier statement on crunch.

[Magog]

Notice he doesn't actually take back anything he said he just makes excuses for it. Clearly he's worried about this news costing him career opportunities in the future.

[Sonyslave3]

But he did say he had enough time to draw on artstation and do some other things so idk.

[Magog]

So we know they didn't have him chained to a radiator. He still exposed the crunch and huge cuts to the game based on the execs at Microsoft not knowing what it takes to make a game.

[Sonic-and-Crash]

when the crunch is from Sony studios then is valid ....when the crunch is from MS studios ,dozens of media vultures and wannabe journalists roasting the guy just for denoting the obvious ....,

imo if some studios are suffering from crunch right now those are definitely MS side , as they are 7 months left behind without exclusive since the Halo fiasco

[Orchard]

@Magog

1. If he was really concerned about losing his career, he wouldn’t have made the video at all. Most devs I’ve worked with avoid social media etc at all costs to avoid such risk.

2. Huge cuts happen to every game, it’s a normal part of a multi-year dev cycle. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a project where there haven’t been substantial cuts, mostly entire game modes or chapters of the story. The designers don’t just write the original story and design and then go on vacation while the artists and programmers implement everything.

So by your logic, none of the big companies know what it takes to make a game.

[Godmars290]

@Sonic-and-Crash:
You're talking about results, not crunch. Crunch is often forgiven, forgotten, when a high profile game is good. When its bad to unplayable, when there are tales of time mismanagement, sitting on a project for years only to force its release so not to miss quarterlies, that's when you hear about crunch.

Maybe Sony is as bad with crunch as MS or EA, thing is they just don't put out titles that come off as being rushed. Closest I've heard of such is the Mile Morales Spiderman.

[Zhipp]

@Godmars
The biggest reports of crunch in recent years came from TLOU 2 and RDR2, both of which were highly polished titles. On the other hand, you rarely hear of crunch horror stories from EA and Activision.

[Godmars290]

@Zhipp:
Red Dead is Rockstar, not Sony. Also EA: Mass Effect Andromeda? Anthem?

TLOU2 is a given, but even then, for many complaints it did little to further the "series", for all the controversies swirling about it, overworked devs is its least issue. Meanwhile 343 has Crig the Brute and a year's delay with confirmed downgrades.

Again, my argument is *BAD* high profile games. That well regarded ones generally and unfortunately get a pass. They shouldn't.

[frostypants]

Crunch is a reality of the occupation. People are just more likely to complain these days.

[-Foxtrot]

Probably didn’t expect his comments to be spread so quickly and reported on so much

Now it’s like “shit...what have I done”

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[Godmars290]

Sounds more like "what I kept/allowed on my message board."

[abstractel]

You definitely have to worry about what you say out loud as it will affect your career.

Yeah it's interesting seeing all these downvotes on what seems to be the complaints about crunches themselves. When I was in my early 20s I didn't mind too much. Then I got older and started realizing how game developers take advantage of their people. There are good egg companies but they are in the minority. I could change industry, but when you've invested so much time honing your skills it puts you in a tricky situation. Having a large gap in your resume if you want to go back is not a good look either.

I really believe the gaming industry (like many others) need unions. Overall, the gaming industry is a pretty toxic workplace to work in.

[spicelicka]

Lol what? Why is the explanation of what he actually meant considered "excuses"? Not sure why you can't just take his word for it. He's clearly worried about his career, but because people are taking his words out of context and sensationalizing. Now that he's clarifying everything people want to call it an excuse. Just let it go people.

[-Foxtrot]

If he didn’t want people doubting him then he should have chosen his words better

He knows how things like this can be reported on

[Rude-ro]

To be completely honest..

The game reveal with an already planned launch marketing strategy puts weight into the words.
It is just not someone saying something with no visual reference to go by.

If the entire gaming world did not call out the game, it would have launched with the new consoles as it was and in that state, it would have been very rushed and not ready for a smooth launch.

[DJStotty]

It is because Sony fanboys are desperate for Halo to be unsuccessful, for some reason, they see Halo as a threat.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Careful you're reaching so hard you might pull something

[Fluttershy77]

Yeah he was quite silly. It wasn't taken out of context, he literally sht all over the development of Halo Infinite (and 343 really). Probably EA and Acti have NDAs, apparently not the case with 343. Maybe he was truthful but still If I were a AAA dev I wouldn't hire him after this

[jznrpg]

MS/Phil shit on the development of Halo Infinite when Phil was saying how great it looks and then approved that demo for release .

[agnosticgamer]

Notice how you didn't work there and he did and said his comments were taken out of context. Or do you know better than him?

[NeoGamer232]

Project by their very nature contain crunch time because they are date driven.

School projects often have students spend "all-nighters" to get their projects done, Construction projects often work through the night to get done on time, and now we have software projects both in business and gaming where people often work crunch time to get these projects done.

We keep on blaming companies for crunch time, but in reality this is a two way street. I work with developers all the time, and they are absolutely awful at estimating their work which is almost as bad as "evil" companies that make them work crunch time.

When I estimate developer projects I ask developers what their confidence level is for the estimate. If they say high, then I hold them to it (If they are accurate there is no crunch time, if they under estimated then there is crunch time), if the confidence level is not high I sit down with them, try and understand why, then add my own multiplier to their estimate. As a person that plans development projects you rely on the people doing the estimation to give you accurate estimates with a good understanding of the code that will need to be written. If their accuracy is wrong then crunch time happens.

There are two things that lead to crunch time. The first, is developers not providing accurate estimates. I know it is hard but developers need to tell the planners how long things will take and give a degree of certainty. Second, planners need to interpret any estimates up where certainty is low and never allow any estimate to go down. How well, both do is what leads to crunch time. If developers are good at estimating then they avoid crunch time, If planners are good at interpreting estimates they also help the developers avoid crunch time. But every time crunch time is really bad it is both to blame, not just the company.

[sourOG]

Fake news strikes again

[senorfartcushion]

Microsoft’s money strikes again. Crunch doesn’t have to exist if you can afford for it not to. This way you can be nominated for GOTY off the back of crunching employees and not lose a wink of sleep.

This applies to every AAA studio, but MS are the subject of the article here, so...

[sourOG]

I have nothing against an “all hands on deck policy” and the end of production. You should want to be a part of that, I would. If you wanted a stable career then game development was probably your first mistake. Especially after the covid remote working revolution.

That’s every corporation. Just because they make a ton of profit doesn’t mean they are going to keep teams or people around that lose them money. You could say they make enough from call of duty to support a failing diviision, or kotick’s bonus is enough to support a division that is losing them money. You could say that, but that’s not how it works. For any corporation.

[DJStotty]

If people have never experienced "crunch" in a place of work, then you need to actually get a job.

[senorfartcushion]

I have experienced crunch, it’s enforced by roobs who are bad at their jobs.

[CaptainHenry916]

Not looking to good.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

I think to stop sites from click-baiting or blatantly falsely presenting information, one of the 3 platform holders needs to blacklist or charge a site with defamation. Sites click bait and present suspect or false information all the time without repercussion.

[senorfartcushion]

This is the company preparing for Infinite’s relaunch. There has been crunch for the last few months, that much is extremely, extremely obvious. But crunch is more controversial now, so the studio dogs are out on damage control.

“We didn’t mean crunch back then, promise!” Even though it’s a AAA studio with crunch reports coming out all the time.

In fairness, though, they have nothing to worry about. The GOTY awards last year proved that media pundits don’t really care about crunch. Then there are the fanboys, who’ll lie down and let the AAA tanks drive over them, crushing their bones, whenever they have the opportunity.

[Jay767]

I don’t think halo infinite will a be game of year Contender but I hope it a least be a decent game for halo fans.

[Fluttershy77]

Yeah... I wanted to be really good, a masterpiece like the Bungie games were. But no, now we are like "hope is decent"

[FanboysKiller]

Goty award since gow have been pointless because many games deserved it actually which makes it no longer special and just another title unfortunately.

[Orchard]

Media needs to do a better job here. Video in Mandarin and they took a poorly translated version of it from a random Era community member as fact.

They should at least be getting their own translation and validating the facts. Whatever happened to investigative journalism.

[FanboysKiller]

The internet is broken because of these nasty so called "video games journalists" , every time there is something awkward for setting a bad example of video games journalism , there's nothing positive about it at all .

[waverider]

Of course its true. It must be even worse then what he told. This is damage control. Halo is the blockbuster of Microsoft. They are breaking records in money spent. More then half a billion! Tons of years in the making and after the craig moment does anyone believe what he told its a lie? They are gonna reveal the next trailer when? Two weeks before launch? When is the launch? Where are the news? What he told was already a being talked.

[Orchard]

Why would a random ex-employee be doing damage control? He doesn’t even work there and isn’t part of the PR team.

“ They are gonna reveal the next trailer when? Two weeks before launch? When is the launch? Where are the news? ”

Is this your first time owning a game console? E3 is a month away.

[Zhipp]

The $500 million claim is unsubstantiated. The only way I can see that budget being accurate is if it's supposed to be for the entire 10yr support cycle for Infinite. Kind of like the later disproven rumors that were floating around back in the day about Destiny's budget.

[DJStotty]

Typical Waverider, typical fanboy barf.

We know why your really here....

[neomahi]

People are just stupid. If youre gonna respond like this, then you have to shut up and realize theres a reason a PR department exists, because their jobs are to methodically think through questions and respond professionally. So, theres a reason this guy was tucked away on the back, told to get his work only and keep his mouth shut. Everyone today just wants to talk, thats why this guy wasnt and isnt a businessman. Amatuer, millenials, always thinking theyre gonna get the big score out of college. Theres a reason businesses want experience, because then they get someone who comes into work every morning, does their job like theyre told to without argument then punches out to go home, not run their mouth like this guy.

[anast]

The entertainment business has always been sleazy and abusive. You got a bunch of true pr#$& ruling the roost.

[frostypants]

Nobody cared about dev crunch until the last couple of years. Weird. It's 100% been a thing since computer programming has been a thing. Not sure what the big deal is.

[Blaze929]

Shame what you clickbait journalist will do now adays. No integrity.

[DJStotty]

I thought as much, all that faff about potential developments problems etc are now getting smoothed over faster than a plasterers wall.

[DarXyde]

These developer comments all seem genuinely fair. Clearly, hysteria gets clicks.

Not a Halo fan at all, but I think this point from the article is a poignant one:

"The most important part is that his comments on crunch were massively overstated. There was never a constant push for crunch but people did it out of their personal choice. Working from home contributed to part of this as there is usually family and other distractions at home. He was also running two art channels which he uses as an example to say that he had enough time to manage them while also doing his work at 343i."

To me, this is the best kind of "crunch". Not necessarily the need to compensate due to working at home (though I wouldn't call those "distractions" - when you're home, family duties come first. Working at home is the distraction from one's home life, but that's just my opinion), but the idea that it comes from personal choice. To me, that is probable indication of personal passion, which is great. If they're doing this out of fear of not meeting project deadlines, I suppose that's an issue, but if they just want to get more done, I have no issues with that.

Fact of the matter is, this is Halo. Microsoft is not stupid enough to rush 343 on creating what is probably going to be the last Halo game for quite a while. Chances are, they're going to want it to be very good with endless engagement and monetization where reasonable (and perhaps where it is not).

[Stanjara]

This guy was clueless for what was gonna happened.
"Lastly, he talked about how he tried to reach other media outlets but no one replied to him back to get the complete picture from him."

Why? They got everything they wanted...the best parts. They got The Story.

Good luck getting another job in the industry.

[DJStotty]

Everyone knows what the phrase is :-

"work smarter, not harder"