Uploaded April 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Fortnite developer teams at Epic Games are working in a perpetual "crunch time" situation. That's not sustainable by any measure...and from all reports, things are bad over at Epic.
But they are not alone.
It's not just game development—though by all reports, that industry's culture leans that way—it's the valley and in cybersecurity.
Specific to cybersecurity, this type of overtime and crunch culture isn't sustainable. We also know that there is a massive skills gap, there simply aren't enough people to do the cybersecurity work as it currently stands.
This mountain of never ending work can easily lead to burnout. But even if you don't burn out, if this an effective way to work? Are you and your teams working efficiently? Instead of simply putting more time in, why not optimize the work you are doing? Shouldn't that be your first step?!?
References:
- Colin Campbell for Polygon on the culture of the Fortnite development team at Epic Games, polygon.com/2019/4/23/18507750/fortnite-work-crunch-epic-games/comment/507329606
- the BBC's coverage of Jack Ma's 996 statement, bbc.com/news/business-47934513
- Gary Vaynerchuck's site, garyvaynerchuk.com
// MWM Y2 no. 029
The Fortnite developer teams at Epic Games are working in a perpetual "crunch time" situation. That's not sustainable by any measure...and from all reports, things are bad over at Epic.
But they are not alone.
It's not just game development—though by all reports, that industry's culture leans that way—it's the valley and in cybersecurity.
Specific to cybersecurity, this type of overtime and crunch culture isn't sustainable. We also know that there is a massive skills gap, there simply aren't enough people to do the cybersecurity work as it currently stands.
This mountain of never ending work can easily lead to burnout. But even if you don't burn out, if this an effective way to work? Are you and your teams working efficiently? Instead of simply putting more time in, why not optimize the work you are doing? Shouldn't that be your first step?!?
References:
- Colin Campbell for Polygon on the culture of the Fortnite development team at Epic Games, polygon.com/2019/4/23/18507750/fortnite-work-crunch-epic-games/comment/507329606
- the BBC's coverage of Jack Ma's 996 statement, bbc.com/news/business-47934513
- Gary Vaynerchuck's site, garyvaynerchuk.com
// MWM Y2 no. 029
