Management and Labour Organisation in the Video Game Industry - 'the Crunch'

Merey Tilepbergen

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

The thesis aims to investigate the issues of human resource management and labour organisation raised by practices in the video game industry. Specifically, the thesis focuses on the practice of 'the crunch', a period of intensified work in the period immediately before the release of games, in which games designers are frequently expected to work long hours under intense pressure. This practice is relatively normalised, even celebrated, but raises obvious questions of labour exploitation, leadership and strategic management. The thesis will employ case study analysis to investigate the issues raised by the 'crunch', using the example of the company Naughty Dog company and its game Uncharted 4. Data will be obtained through secondary information sources, primarily media reports due to low research concentration on this topic. The work aims to understand the concept of unpaid imposed overtime work, and tries to justify them according to management practices.

Keywords

crunch, overtime, planning, vision, budget, management

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 18. 3. 2024

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Daniel Rosenhaft Swain, Ph.D. MA
• Reader: Julita Skotarska, Ing., externi

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Economics and Management

Bachelor programme:
Business Administration