Ben Gonshaw: Digital Media Theorist & Game Design Consultant
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CRUNCHED TO A HALT

12th May 2005

After EA Spouse, various class action lawsuits, 'quality of life' white papers and several thousand people all voicing their opinion on the matter, the EU has decided to crack down on long working hours. It has been illegal to employ people for more than 48 hours in one week, but here in the UK we had an opt out. That meant that if you had to do crunches you either had to sign a form waiving your right to a 48 hour week, or you would have to keep detailed time-sheets instead, so everyone signs it for simplicity.   Yesterday the EU parliament voted to stop this opt out. Game developers in the UK can no longer force the crunch upon people and if they do and you refuse and then you lose your job, you have the recourse of the EU courts to back you up.

Of course, this may impact badly on the industry. No one expects 24 hour news teams to opt out, doctors and certain other classes of worker are exempt from this directive. Crunches are an inevitable part of a creative-based industry, no matter how meticulous the planning, no matter how generous the contingency, crunch time will sneak up on you. One philosophy is not to fight it, but to embrace it, to recognise that it is part of the industry.   So while many workers and their families will cheer, others will be scratching their heads, vainly trying to remould the process of making games in a possibly futile attempt to remove crunch and stay within the law. Perhaps it's time to begin campaigning to make games developers exempt.

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