Current and Former Call of Duty Devs Speak About Crunch and Working Hours

Current and former Treyarch developers who worked on the likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and Black Ops Cold War have spoken about their experiences with crunch at the studio.

Posted By | On 13th, Feb. 2022

call of duty black ops cold war

Activision and its studios have been in the eye of a storm of controversies for several months running, and the company’s employees have not only been more than vocal in the company and its practices, but have also taken significant measures to protect their interests against it. Another unsurprising issue to add to that ever-growing list, it seems, is crunch.

As recently reported by MP1st, some Call of Duty devs have spoken about their experiences with crunch while working on the franchise- specifically at Treyarch. Kate Anderson, part of Activision’s QA, recently took to Twitter to speak about the same, while also talking about how 14 hour work days were “common” during Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s development, and that employees would only be informed about the same with as little notice as five minutes.

Meanwhile, Jessica Gonzalez, former QA tester at Treyarch and Blizzard Entertainment, also spoke about similar experiences during the development of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, which also saw 14 hour work weeks quite often. Interestingly, Gonzalez also talked about the game’s PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, and how trying to get the game running on the older consoles was so “abysmal” that it “broke entire builds”. She also mentioned that development on the game was “so behind” that Treyarch had to cancel the game’s entire campaign on old-gen machines.

Crunch has been a widespread issue in the industry, but though it’s not surprising that a franchise like Call of Duty is as demanding for its developers as it is, it is disappointing that it’s not managed better by studio management and Activision. Of course, Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard, so hopefully this will be an area that gets scrutinized and worked on in the future.

https://twitter.com/_TechJess/status/1492159032613687303

https://twitter.com/_TechJess/status/1492200383426355203

https://twitter.com/_TechJess/status/1492161872480505858


Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out!

Keep On Reading!

Capcom Will “Address Issues” With Monster Hunter Wilds “Where Possible” in Future Updates

Capcom Will “Address Issues” With Monster Hunter Wilds “Where Possible” in Future Updates

The company assured shareholders in a recent Q&A that its staff is "reviewing user feedback, including comment...

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time Crosses 1.2 Million Sales

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time Crosses 1.2 Million Sales

A free update has also been announced for later this month, which adds Photo Mode. A roguelike mode is also in...

Ubisoft Red Storm Hit by Lay-Offs Affecting 19 Employees

Ubisoft Red Storm Hit by Lay-Offs Affecting 19 Employees

In a statement, Ubisoft said that Red Storm Entertainment was its only studio being affected by lay-offs as pa...

Borderlands 4’s Endgame is “Very Ambitious,” Says Creative Director

Borderlands 4’s Endgame is “Very Ambitious,” Says Creative Director

Gearbox's Graeme Timmins said the team has "thought about" the shooter's endgame "from the jump" and has some ...

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch – New Game Plus Update is Live, 3 New Weapons Also Added

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch – New Game Plus Update is Live, 3 New Weapons Also Added

Those who finished the game can embark on multiple New Game+ cycles against tougher enemies and uncover improv...

Jurassic World Evolution 3 Trailer Showcases the Lokiceratops

Jurassic World Evolution 3 Trailer Showcases the Lokiceratops

As a ceratopsian, the Lokiceratops is distinguished by its curved horns and social nature, though it can be fi...