Media are on about CD ProjectRed and their take on crunch time on Cyberpunk 2077, again.

I don`t want to stir another debate on that topic and I can`t tell what is true and what is clickbait anymore, so I won`t go into specifics as stated by some media.

What I do want is fair work times for the devs and appropriate stress management. And at least I wouldn`t mind another delay for the release if that improves work conditions for the dev team.

And if that is not an option anymore for Cyberpunk 2077 for whatever reasons, hopefully CD ProjectRed will be more obliged to that goal in the future.

Keep in mind that there are rather strict regulations of work in the EU in general and in Poland specifically. To my knowledge, the Polish labour law says that 40 hour weeks is the ordinary max and the maximum overtime cannot exceed 8 hours a week, with there also being a cap on overtime per year. So unless I'm missing something then we're talking 48 hour weeks for 6 weeks, not something insane like 70-80 hour weeks, and people will of course be getting paid for their overtime.

And I suspect that "overtime is mandatory" is the baseline principle, but still subject to medical exceptions and whatnot. Because sick people can't work and right now we're way, way too late in the process to even think about replacing team members. But there's a list of things that has to get done before release, there's an estimate for each item in terms of man hours, and the long end of those estimates probably sums up to something greater than what CDPR has available, so something has to give.

Is overtime good? Is crunch good? Obviously not. Nobody likes forced overtime, but as someone in software development, overtime does happen. Particularly when you have a product that has to be perfect and a deadline that has to be met.

They've clearly made an effort to minimize crunch, especially after complaints about Witcher 3, and most (if not all) are working at home as per social distancing requirements. I think what makes this a bit different than what we normally hear is that we're not seeing this for months at a time, every single year (EA). This game has been in development for how long now? seven years? Eight? Despite GOG's continued growth, the CD Projekt group has to have games coming out in order to keep money coming in. I'm sure everyone remembers Duke Nukem Forever and what a clusterfuck that turned out to be. Delays are obviously preferred, but the game has been delayed twice already, and no one wants this game stuck in development hell.

I could not agree more,
Look CDPR(yes i am not talking to OP i am talking to the CDproject. the sheer gull of me) there is hell of a lot people who pre-purchased the thing, i realize that some people are egging the leadership on to finally release the damned thing.

But i have few points i would like to make:
I. Crunch can and will have long lasting NEGATIVE effects on both creativity and productivity far more importantly as person who did suffer multiple burnouts(tho my employ was nightwatch 12 hrs a day 4-6 days a week and helpdesk tier one rather than any creative field) i grantee you that it wrecks the person's private life making them more susceptible to full on breakdowns thus making the person temporarily or even permanently leave the workforce.
Is it realy worth pushing people to a breaking point in short term to meet some damned date? the company has very solid track record for games and the delayed release time (yes even few more times) is vastly preferable to releasing DNF or BC3000AD just because half the team was too burnt to work right.

II. Milestone and progression seems to have been misjudged, that is fair, if the game is worth it (and i am still hoping it is) people will wait, i mean people still wait for SQ42 / Star citizen so you are fine in that regard. Just take a step back and loong hard look at what has been done and what it yet to be completed, than re-evaluate how long will that take. Pressuring people into working overtime is not going to fix it, what is required is solid plan of how to get from where it is NOW to release, however long that might take.
There are no magic fix-its just hard work, preferably fair to both employees and customers.

III. Take the delay hit rather than the reputation as sweatshop workplace please, its definitively worth it for both longevity of the team, employee satisfaction and the support youll get from stronger community. Customers can make you glide but happy employees may make the soar.

I had been involved in a project that went into crunch in late 2017. Luckily, that crunch period ended this August. Considering this is pretty much how all the projects go, I am sarcastically sure the next project will go better.

I am simultaneously essential and expendable - so that means "cleared for OT during the pandemic". Being burned out and numb toward one's "career" does not help one perform or advance in the workplace.

Some company in any crunch affected industry needs to seriously revise their timeline with development/production, apologize to customers for the delay, and commit to the reasonable workload deadline driven by the dev end instead of the marketing end. I think a profitable way to do it for a big company is to make noise about how ethics and people are more important than immediate profit. The best fit would be a company that sells to end users - not other companies. Have a marketing team spread the word loud and far about how great the company is for standing by their employees and committing to a quality releases for customers. Apologize to the customers for the delay, but make a huge deal over being reasonable toward your employees' work/life balance. Earn that goodwill, get that reputation, and the loyal customers and profit will follow.

I realize that the EU is better about making sure people get paid, and that the team will get their pay for hours worked. That does make it a little better in the grayness of it all.

I dunno... just throwing out ideas. I'm tired.

I really want to like the CD Project group. I'm looking for that light - that symbol that it can be done right.