Crunch culture is something of a sore point when it comes to video game development. Many studios encourage or even pressure its team into putting in hours of extreme overtime when a release date is looming. Industry professionals, such as IO Interactive's Hakan Abrak, have spoken about their experience of crunch and how it has caused them to work for weeks, months or even years without days off in between. However, not all studios engage with such hectic periods, as Double Fine have shown for their upcoming sequel Psychonauts 2.
Posting to Twitter recently, the game's senior producer, Kevin Johnson, has said that the Psychonauts 2 studio has managed to undo the norm by developing the game without the need for a crunch period. He also took the opportunity to thank the team at Double Fine studios, who he says have been "amazing" adding that he is proud of what they've done. Overall, it seems as though Johnson is not only excited about the game, but is grateful to the people who have been working hard on it as well.
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This is also not the first modern title that has bucked the trend in terms of high-pressure periods of development to get a game out in time. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Insomniac's latest installment in the Ratchet and Clank series was also developed without the need for excessive crunch time. This is in stark contrast to other big developers, such as CD Projekt Red, who have been under fire for its busy crunch periods despite promises to the contrary.
Psychonauts 2 being developed with no crunch makes sense, in a way. Both games in the series have a focus on mental health, to the point where Double Fine hired a psychologist to make sure topics surrounding such issues were being handled sensitively and accurately. Given that, an atmosphere of stress in the team would arguably undo what the studio is trying to achieve with the game.
The long-awaited sequel to the 2005 zany platformer Psychonauts is shaping up to be one of the most exciting releases of the year, particularly among those who remember the original fondly. Despite there being sixteen years between the two games, Psychonauts 2 will take place just a few days after the events of the first one. With the legendary Tim Schafer at the helm, there's understandably a lot of buzz around this next installment, and many can't wait to see what awaits them when it's released in August.
Psychonauts 2 will launch on August 25 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.