Homefront dev defends 10-hour days
Kaos working to the bone, is part of the job.
The boss of Homefront developer Kaos Studios has defended crunch – the act of working 10-hour days seven days a week to get a game ready for launch.
An insider working at the New York studio told Develop that crunch has been underway at Kaos for around half-a-year.
"Over the holiday many of us were on call and unable to leave to see our family," said the anonymous source.
Responding to the accusations, Kaos general manager David Votypka said 10-hour shifts were common among many industries, and denied staff were forced to work over the holiday break.
"If this seems unique or abhorrent, I would have to suggest that any assessment regarding a 10-hour work day would need to consider a much larger segment of the American workforce," he said.
"Digital media companies, marketers, PR, even accountants in various industries throughout the nation, work 10-hour days regularly, 52 weeks per year."
Last week THQ's outspoken core games boss Danny Bilson visited the studio and tweeted, "At Kaos studios in NY sitting with a team that's finaling on 7 day weeks for a couple of months. Talk about that 'thousand yard stare'."
Votypka said Bilson's tweet was incorrect. "Unfortunately, it was misstated that this [seven-day crunch] has been going on for two months. That's simply not the case. For the record: no Kaos developer has worked 60 days without a break. That will never happen here."
Homefront, due out on 8th March, has been in development for three years. THQ hopes it will prove a critical and commercial success – and lay the groundwork for sequels that will eventually challenge the likes of Call of Duty and Medal of Honor.