Rockstar's culture of crunch has been the most recent subject of controversy after vice president of creativity for Rockstar and writer of almost all of the titles in the
Grand Theft Auto series Dan Houser's comments about the Rockstar crew's approach to crunch that involved working 100-hour weeks several times in 2018 to finish the acclaimed
Red Dead Redemption 2 (which launches tomorrow).
It wasn't the first time we've heard about Rockstar's crunch as the same stories hit the web during
L.A. Noire and
Max Payne 3's development. While Rockstar doesn't seem to find a golden mean between an extended crunch and finishing their games, Ubisoft, a studio that has over 12,000 employees, didn't have to deal with a massive crunch during the production of
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey.
"
While we can always do better, I can tell you hand on heart that [Odyssey] hasn't required a massive crunch, like maybe some of the triple-As from five or ten years ago," the studio's MD Patrick Klaus told Gamasutra in a recent interview. "
We collectively, on the management team, think that it is a false economy to burn out our teams. We risk losing them, or we risk disengaging them, and we will simply not get the best out of those talents if we're forcing them to work insane hours in crunch. We've got some way to go, but I'm feeling good about what we have achieved," Klaus explained.
As with
Red Dead Redemption 2, the three years of work behind
Odyssey was spread across multiple studios, including seven other Ubisoft teams, with Quebec taking the lead. Considering that Ubisoft's next major project,
Tom Clancy's The Division 2, is being developed by over 1,000 people, it will be interesting to hear what Ubisoft Massive's employees have to say about that issue.
Take control of your destiny and write your own epic odyssey as you journey to become a legendary Spartan hero. Live incredible adventures in a world where every choice matters. Rejected by your family, you must embark on an adventure from outcast mercenary to legendary Spartan hero to uncover the truth about your past.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is out now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.