> Perma-crunch is stupid and destructive, but voluntary crunch by people who are trying to push the medium is a good thing. Hard work is not bad or evil. Great things can happen when you’re willing to push.
The thing with voluntary crunch is it becomes institutionalized and part of your company culture. If you don't pitch in you're managed down and out since there's always some poor soul willing to do your job.
At least until they burn out in 3 years(look up the Gamasutra GameDev Salary, average tenure is just under 3 years).
That said some of the best people we hire are ex-gamedev.
In the industry you're trying to find the intersection of sane hours, good pay and stability. If you're in the top 5% of studios you might find that but a large majority of people never even see one of those 3 things.
