Blackbird Interactive made headlines earlier this year when the company began experimenting with a 4-day workweek, while also delaying Homeworld 3 slightly in order to further protect the health of the developers. This is a refreshing sight to see in such a chronically overworked industry, and many fans on social media and message boards have expressed that they’d prefer games to arrive a little later if it allowed for improved working conditions and an overall higher quality end product. It’s no secret that many games arrive in rushed, incomplete states even with developers working under extreme crunch conditions, which has forward-thinking studios like Blackbird Interactive looking for solutions.
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In Game Rant’s interview with Chief Creative Officer of Blackbird Interactive Rory McGuire and Associate Game Director Kathryn (Kat) Neale, they expressed their excitement about this shift to a 4-day workweek. The change appears to have been greatly beneficial to the team as they work to meet the understandably high expectations set for Homeworld 3. Blackbird Interactive has been monitoring the team’s progress over the course of the change with surprisingly strong results. Rory McGuire spoke to Game Rant about the change:
Kat Neale also had this to say about the improved atmosphere and excitement in the studio thanks to more rest time for developers:
Blackbird Interactive has been gathering data about the change and hopes to share what it’s learned with other developers, hopefully leading to a shift in the gaming industry’s current culture of relentless crunch and unrealistic expectations imposed by corporate interests. Homeworld 3’s team is living proof that happy and healthy developers are more focused, driven, and creative, leading to a more efficient workflow and a more polished product. Hopefully, the information Blackbird Interactive has gathered can convince other studios to follow suit, especially since the fans appear to be supportive of the change. After all, nobody wants the developers of their favorite game to be miserable.
Homeworld 3 is currently in development and will be available on PC in the first half of 2023.
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