Hamish Wagstaff (Double Shot) & two very different approaches to crunch

Hamish Wagstaff is the Director of Aberrant Realities in Canberra, the studio behind Double Shot, a virtual reality game that has players pour and concoct drinks for their customers all while defending their bar from attackers with a variety of weapons. It's set in retro 1980s aesthetic and it's a cocktail filled to the brim with style. You might have read this week that Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite, and Respawn Entertainment, who developed Apex Legends two blockbuster battle royale games, are approaching their success in very different ways. While Epic allegedly is trying everything to keep that pace of content and fixes and burning workers out in the process, Respawn is taking a slower more manageable pace to avoid crunch. We discuss how crunch culture effects smaller studios and large studios and talk about how that is very different. Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week. SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information! You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"Support the show: https://sifter.store