Crunch culture is an increasingly serious concern within the video game industry, as developers are often overworked and burn out while being undercompensated. Given the negative regard for studios with crunch culture, it came as a significant surprise whenThe Callisto Protocoldirector andStriking Distance Studios CEO Glen Schofieldrecently shared on Twitter that his team is working 72-105 hours a week. Schofield has now moved backward on his comments, apologizing to his team at Striking Distance.Schofield took to Twitter for his apology, following up on the now-deleted tweet regardingThe Callisto Protocolcrunch at Striking Distance Studios. Schofield started his statement first by clarifying how “passionate” he is about the developers that he works with. He then points to how he said he was proud of the “effort and hours the team was putting in.” He goes on to say that this was wrong and that he values the “passion and creativity” of his team and not their long hours. The statement from Schofield ends with an apology for “coming across like this.“RELATED:The Callisto Protocol Dev Cites Cult Horror Comedy Film As Key InspirationThere’s a clear intent here, and it’s not necessarily to tamper public criticism of Schofield’s seeming apathy toward his studio’s crunch culture. Rather, Schofield’s concern appears primarily focused on avoiding any insult or hurt that his team of developers may be feeling after the initial tweet. For one, the apology is for Schofield saying that the amount of hours hisStriking Distanceteammates put in is evidence of hard work. What he clarifies is that he’s trying to encourage and celebrate his team’s passion.
The consequence of Schofield focusing solely on this one negative aspect of hisnow-deleted crunch culture tweetis he’ll likely be accused of ignoring the more substantial criticisms. Namely, that Striking Distance has such severe crunch culture at all. The modern argument is that studio leadership across the industry should be doing everything it can to prevent crunch, and even if it does happen to recognize that it’s a consequence of leadership’s mistakes.
Developers at Striking Distance may take some small comfort at Schofield’s respect for the extreme hours and passion they’re putting intoThe Callisto Protocol’s development. But they’ll also have to question whether Schofield thinks this is just the way game development is, and if these are the hours for future games at Striking Distance, too.
There’s also a moral question to be asked, as well. Asexciting asThe Callisto Protocolmay look, consumers face the question of whether to support extreme working conditions for the game’s developers. To make the game, developers are at times sacrificing their lunches and dinners. WithThe Callisto Protocoldirector Glen Schofield saying, “This is gaming,” and “U do it cause ya love it,” fans will have to determine whether this apology is enough.
The Callisto Protocolreleases December 2 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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