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One particularly interesting response to the Rockstar debacle came from Vlambeer co-founder Jan Willem Nijman, who implored his fellow devs to spotlight their crunch-free projects.

Chris Kerr, News Editor

October 17, 2018

1 Min Read

Rockstar managed to vex the entire games industry this week when studio co-founder Dan Houser suggested to Vulture that some team members had been working 100-hour weeks to polish off Red Dead Redemption 2

Houser eventually clarified his remarks, and explained he was only referring to himself and other senior writers when he talked about those long weeks, and that crunch isn't mandated or expected at Rockstar.  

Even so, the whole debacle caused a stir, with devs from across the industry criticizing the impact and normalization of crunch. 

One particularly interesting response came from Vlambeer co-founder Jan Willem Nijman, who started a Twitter thread so developers could spotlight the games they made without crunch, and in some cases tell the stories behind them. 

The result is a glorious thread overflowing with crunch-free games: tasty morsels of entertainment that were created without sacrificing the well-being of those working away behind the scenes. 

There are plenty of familiar names peppered throughout the thread, including acclaimed titles like Minit, Cultist Simulator, Guacamelee 2!, Broken Age, Florence, and Sunless Sea. Of course, there are even more where those came from, so be sure to have a gander at the full thing over on Twitter.

About the Author(s)

Chris Kerr

News Editor, GameDeveloper.com

Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.

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