UPDATE 4th September 10.45am UK: Striking Distance CEO has apologised for yesterday’s tweet, saying it was “wrong” and insisting the studio “values passion and creativity, not long hours”.
Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about the people I work with. Earlier I tweeted how proud I was of the effort and hours the team was putting in. That was wrong. We value passion and creativity, not long hours. I’m sorry to the team for coming across like this.
— . (@GlenSchofield) September 3, 2022
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“Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about the people I work with,” Schofield explained in a new tweet. “Earlier I tweeted how proud I was of the effort and hours the team was putting in. That was wrong. We value passion and creativity, not long hours. I’m sorry to the team for coming across like this.”
Original story follows.
ORIGINAL STORY 3rd September UK: Striking Distance Studios’ founder Glen Schofield has deleted a tweet deemed by some to have promoted “crunch” culture in games development.
In a tweet posted earlier today, Schofield – whose team is currently working on the upcoming sci-fi horror, The Callisto Protocol – talked about working 12-15 hours a day, six-seven days a week, and working over lunch and dinner, justifying it by saying “you do it because you love it”.
“I only talk about the game during an event,” Schofield said in the since deleted tweet. “We [are] working six-seven days a week, nobody’s forcing us.
“Exhausted, tired, covid, but we’re working,” he continues. “Bugs, glitches, perf fixes. One last pass through audio. 12-15 hour days. This is gaming. Hard work. Lunch, dinner working. You do it cause ya luv it.”
Journalist Jason Schrierer took a screenshot of the tweet ahead of its deletion, adding:
“This, from a studio head, is crunch culture defined. Of course nobody is ‘forced’ to work insane hours. But imagine the reduced bonuses and lack of promotion opportunities if you don’t? ‘You do it because you love it’. Weaponized passion. This is why people burn out of gaming.