The video game industry can and should strive to treat their staff better without having to wait until a video game site exposes them, and that’s where the latest studio on the block comes into the picture. Say hello, to Gravity Well.

So how do Digital Extremes manage to create such a game in an industry that is rife with exploitation and abuse that leads to talented developers being regarded as disposable assets? By focusing on the bigger picture and working in a manner which that defies the crunch culture which is so pervasive in the game development scene today.

A cultural phenomenon, Fortnite earns many millions of dollars ever single day, funding an unbelievable growth at the company. That success has come at a human cost though

There’s a culture of crunch in the industry, that is not healthy at all, something that Rockstar Games found out the hard way after they were rightfully lambasted for boasting about putting their employees through excruciatingly long months of development for Red Dead Redemption 2. A problem that seems typical of the AAA game development space, only it really isn’t.

Sometimes the anticipation for something is better than the actual thing. This happens most often when I order cheesecake at a restaurant, hoping for something that’s slightly sweet and a little tarts – only to inevitably end up with a mouth full of horribly textured guff that tastes like solidified condensed milk on a mound of crushed Tennis biscuits. While the anticipation is exceedingly high, I don’t expect that to be the case with Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2.

Amy Hennig has 20 years of AAA game development experience, most of which sounds like crunch time. That's not okay.