If you keep up with your wider gaming industry news, you'll know that crunch and less-than-ideal workplace environments have been prominently discussed as of late. More and more workers within the industry have felt brave enough to come forward about such issues, and while we hope this will create huge steps forward for gaming work culture as a whole, it would appear that Nintendo is already managing the problem admirably.
Yesterday, it was revealed that Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the newest title in the series headed to Switch, has been delayed until next year "to ensure that the game is the best it can be". Naturally, this would suggest that the game isn't yet in a state fit for release, with several more months' worth of work still being necessary before the team can be truly happy with it.
Speaking to IGN, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser has addressed both of these very topics and how they're actually linked. He notes that the company "will not bring a game to market before it's ready" and goes on to suggest that delaying the game for as long as necessary was preferred over forcing its staff to work themselves into the ground to get the game out this year.
“The crunch point is an interesting one. For us, one of our key tenets is that we bring smiles to people's faces, and we talk about that all the time. It's our vision. Or our mission, I should say. For us, that applies to our own employees. We need to make sure that our employees have good work-life balance.”
“One of those examples is, we will not bring a game to market before it's ready. We just talked about one example [in Animal Crossing’s delay]. It's really important that we have that balance in our world. It's actually something we're proud of.”
It's a wonderfully refreshing thing to see, and an approach that will no doubt benefit both Nintendo's staff and its fans going forward. In our eyes, a delay for any game is more than worth it if it allows its creators the time and energy to make it the best it can be.
[source uk.ign.com]
Comments 78
Other companies should take note of this, especially a few specific ones...
Always respect delays, no matter what. It is both consumer friendly in the end, and helps the hard working devs. This positive effect always negatively effects the company, but benefits the people. It is a very tough sacrifice to make, and we should be proud
Hear that, Epic?
I applaud Nintendo for this though a lot of people will whine and complain about the delay of games they always forget the people behind them.
It will be done when it is done. March is not that far away and one less month with a "drought" that people say happens in the first of the year. Devs are people not machines.
Meanwhile, EA keep pushing the deadline for FIFA games every year with mediocre quality, expensive price tag, bias support toward Nintendo and infamous business practicals.
Too right. I'll probably be playing this for years after its release so a few months delay for the sake of the devs' well-being is fine by me
Honestly just glad there's a release date and ample gameplay footage. That's literally the best case Plan B if they had to delay.
Great job Nintendo!
Every game delay of Nintendo turned out be a Gem.
It'd be a bit ironic for them to work their employees into the ground while making a game that's all about leisure and relaxation. I'm glad they made the decision to delay the game; I'm sure we'll get better writing and gameplay because of it.
This is why I don't support the practices of EA or Activision, too often they put in horrible crunch that results in unhappy workers and players alike.
I respect this so much. Huge props to Nintendo for not being like most others about this (Activision and EA quickly come to mind).
Not only this, but if the game ends up being better overall, I’m all for a delay. No point in rushing out a title if it’s not the best it can be.
Treat your employees like human beings and release a finished good game instead of rushed garbage that will stick to your reputation no matter how much you patch it later. I see no downside at all to this.
I definitely think other companies should take notes from Nintendo. Looking at you Activision
I commend Nintendo for treating their employees well. As long as the game turns out to be good, I'm okay with it!
(COUGHS) Warner Bros., EA, Actisivion, Epic, etc...
The fact that is even news tells me that we are in an upside down world where this is not the norm. Its a shame, but a good example being shown by Nintendo.
Very much agreed, even video game developers deserve to have a good life and don't need to slave away making games for way too long every day. I'm proud of you, Nintendo!
Not to mention that this probably also helps ensure a better product in the end since well-rested and happy workers deliver better work than tired and stressed ones.
Totally worth the delay, for both the employees and the quality of the game. It’s ok to wait. It’ll give me something to look forward to.
I like when they delay games, there's a lot to play in the meantime!
Actually showing games with footage at an E3 presentation and giving employees time to rest. This is good.
When is this kind of mentality going to come to the tv industry? Better get back to my 12 hour day.
With the game releasing close to the end of the fiscal year, it would be a considerable factor in sales before financial results. It’ll be interesting to see how the holidays will fare before that tho.
Definitely a good philosophy. Happy devs make better games. The cynical part of me notes that this is a great way for Nintendo to spin the delay, but it's a valid point nonetheless.
Come on, guys, you can rest after the game is released!
But, seriously, I'm impressed with Nintendo's approach. Sounds like a good company to work for.
Nothing to argue here. As someone who has been on call for 9 years my work life balance it terrible so I only wish other companies would take up this cause. I am actually moving to a new role which requires ZERO on call work so I am so happy.
Rockstar is the company that is infamous for their crunch, not so much EA/Activision/Epic (though next year's COD Black Ops V will almost certainly be developed under immense crunch since it is going to lose a year of development and needs to be ported to PS5/Xbox Scarlett).
Good to see Nintendo address this issue.
I don't understand why some people are so upset about this. Like yeah, it's a bit of a bummer that we expected it this year, but 2019 has a fair number of awesome Nintendo titles to look forward to, and it's a short delay of just a few months. Sure, early 2020 is packed with awesome games, but that's a great problem to have.
@PBandSmelly Agree, I mean they're not going to delay a game for NO reason what so ever, what single reason could they have for doing that?
Much better to have a delay then rushed and over-worked employees which in the end just results in a lesser game
@jameswarrensaid I've actually seen the overall reaction to be understanding, even amidst the disappointment. But I applaud Nintendo for looking out for its employee's well being.
@8bitforever Glad to hear you've found something better!
Always remember, work to live, don't live to work!
If ever there was a valid excuse for a game delay, this is one. Studios should not be shy about admitting that they have employees that they need to take care of. So long as it's not a continual excuse. Which would indicate general mismanagement of projects.
A lot of people don't realize that managing creative talent is a very tricky issue. Filling roles for artists (whether illustrators, designers, modelers, writers) is not like filling a role for a burger flipper, call center agent or accountant. The level of talent, and specific style of artists that match a studio's requirement are very, very difficult to find and place. So you cannot drive these people off by draconian management styles. They truly have to be treated with kid gloves. Every other studio knows of them and would love to hire them away. So they have to be treated specially so they don't leave. Doesn't sound fair to the guy in the mail room but it is what it is.
I'm agaimst Companies who overwork their staff such as rockstar and epic but surely a game like this which isn't graphically demanding plus clearly uses recycled items, trees, scenary etc should not take long, look at the rate assassins creed, lego games and atelier games get released
I have no problem with delays but unfortunately this puts it in a very busy period early next year with plenty of great games launching around then
@carlos82 It's Animal Crossing which is an evergreen title that will receive consistent updates and can be played anytime of the year with new context. it is a great birthday gift, summer vacation game, even a good game for spring break. That and will receive consistent patches to give it new content as it ages like fine wine with the Switch.
I'm glad they're treating the employees well, but that's not what's bothering me. What bothers and annoys me is that less than 3 weeks ago they re-confirmed it was still scheduled for 2019. It was irritating when they did it with Three Houses, and it's still irritating now.
I run a small business. I have always felt my employees are like my kids; their well-being has to come before my profit. I would not dream of endangering their health or family life for my own monetary gain.
It is refreshing to see a similar attitude taken in a mega business.
@carlos82 The holidays are also loaded with games such as Luigi’s Mansion (probably around Halloween) and Pokémon in November.
It would have been nice to have as a 2019 July//August title — but it just wasn’t ready.
I really respect the work-life balance and companies that get it! I work in a school that really values this idea.
This doesn't bother me at all as i don't plan to play the game but its great they are doing this. More companies, not just video game developers, should take note.
@playstation_king They get released so fast because people who work on them recycle AND work 12-16 hours several days a week.
So it just goes to show that people are actually semi-expecting games companies to work their employees to death.
My respect for Nintendo just got even bigger.
@Wexter oh I'll still be getting it, just that I'll be waiting a bit longer as I simply won't have time or money around then
I respect delays; I'd rather them take their time and make it the best product it can be. We know what rush jobs look like. XD
I respect them even more for reasons like this. I feel that work/life balance is very important and is integral for someone to give 100% to their job when needed and to help prevent burnout. I don't think that working someone to death just to meet unreasonable deadlines is beneficial for anyone.
Kudos to Nintendo for their attitude.
And - it also should be mentioned - kudos to their fans who support that attitude.
I admit I was disappointed when I found out the release date, but then I thought of the people behind it. They can take as long as they want. They actually sound like they really want to get more into it. They just need time.
(And isn't most of the team working on it the ones that also worked on Splatoon 2? Now that that's over, they can finally go full bore on AC:NH's development.)
The only thing I worry about is my ailing Mom. She loves the series and wants to really play it (and play the game with me like we did with New Leaf). It broke my heart to tell her it was delayed until March.
This is just corporate-speak for "we've messed up on one of our priority products". I write code for a living & missing a deadline by 6 months is pretty bad.
If getting the game out this year meant that devs would pay the cost by crunching, better to have it delayed.
No one will be able to make it up to those devs - missing important dates, long work hours, sometimes even getting health issues - while a player can wait some extra time without affecting their lives.
One word: Good.
@OneOneTwo-112 I'm Dry Paper Hammer Bro on Discord!
I guess that doesn't apply to Sakurai he is a contractor and not an in-house employee. Man does he need a vacation. Iwata would be proud of this after all his younger programming day stories came out.
Right call Nintendo. Especially since I have no interest in this game. No, seriously this was the right thing to so by valuing people of profits.
@Zorox88 Sakurai-san does that to himself though. He is known for not wanting to delegate. You get a masterpiece and part of his soul in the process but that is how he works.
Iwata-denka worked while he was in the hospital and pretty much up until his death. Some folks have that level of dedication.
@BillyB
It could be an issue internally where they could not meet project deadlines or it could be a multitude of things. I code for a living as well and these things happen whether you are a 1099 or an in house team member and I applaud them for pausing because most companies I have worked for would have shoved our head to the grindstone and whipped us until we were done. And we would not have been paid more even if it is someone else's issue.
@BillyB
Yeah seems like development is trouble with his one. It’s HD New Leaf with lots of polish and QOL improvements taken from Pocket Camp doesn’t seem like the most difficult project unless there are crazy new things they haven’t shown yet. Wouldn’t be surprised if the trouble here is that they did try to make something that was more than New Leaf HD with things like a huge world with a full 3D camera but couldn’t handle it.
If I weren't self-employed, I'd want to work for Nintendo. Seriously, respect.
Maaaadddddd respect.
We can wait.
This is great, as an HR guy this makes me smile.
Work-life balance in Japan means something very different than it does in the West.
Maybe Sakurai can finally get some rest then. LOL. Every time a Smash Bros game is released, I'm worried it'll kill him.
In Japan, they already work far too hard. This is a delay of 1Q hardly that significant ... And it gives animal crossing some clean air to work in.
Re: work life balance ... This is Nintendo. This is not some external team bound by some dodgy contract, rather people that work there for life.
When its the same people that develop and publish the game, this is the expected outcome.
This should happen more often and with other companies too. Delay games to avoid crunch.
Delay all the games! Seriously! Nothing would suck
Way to go Nintendo!
Nintendo probably noticed Sakurai working himself to death on SSB and decided not to allow that anymore.
Over working your talented staff is like breaking an irreplaceable tool.
What a load of tosh! Nintendo want Pokemon to be the big game for later in the year, and there's so many other games coming out in the interim. Perhaps AC needs a little more time. Who really knows. Personally it's a good decision to do March 2020 because that launch window leads into summer in the game. Remember, it's a game based on real time, so to launching later this year the game itself will be leading into dreary winter. Not great for camping!
How noble of them. The delay is a bummer but if the games not ready yet, there's not much we can do. Really hope we can learn more about the game in the upcoming months
@shoeses Personally, it's a bit of BS. The game is based on real time seasons. So to launch later in the year not only means AC gets swamped by Pokemon in November and Nintendo can lose sales, it also means the season in AC itself will be leading into winter. Not great for camping!
@shoeses Exactly. Talking out of both sides of the mouth Nintendo. I really doubt any of this has to do with work/life balance but if it does, that's a project management problem. If you pick the release date, you allocate the resources in such a way that your people have a good work/life balance AND you deliver on the release date. Plan the work. Work the plan.
Let's hope this is the truth, but I'd be willing to bet that any other company would say the same!
@jameswarrensaid Well, it's a huge bummer because Animal Crossing fills a special niche that almost no other game really can. And people have been eagerly anticipating a brand new one since the Wii U first came out.
I'm genuinely wondering what I can play that will scratch that same itch until New Horizons comes out in March. They have good reasons for it, but that's why this delay is rather difficult compared to most.
@Semudara I understand as I am waiting too. But what’s a few more months? I’d rather wait and get a good game than get a half finished one soon. Animal Crossing as a series has helped me through difficult, stressful times in my life, and I’d hate for the employees working on it to be subjected to crunch to rush it out for 2019.
I think they should at least cough up a playable demo before the end of the year. Possibly host an Animal Crossing focused Direct in the fall, showing off more details, progress, and demo release.
They should try to get some younger developers as well. It would be nice to have it sooner. I respect the delay, but March is ways off. Hire more teams to also chime in, as a means to avoid a second delay, which I fear.
@Ryu_Niiyama Yea I miss Iwata and the kinda heart he had for his craft and the gamers.
I totally agree that work/life balance is important. They should remedy this issue by maybe not putting 2019 up when they first announce a game. At the very least, give us an update similar to what they did with Metroid Prime 4.
I'm not mad that it was pushed to 2020. It's bad to get mad over stuff like this anyways. After all, they are only vide games. If you are like me, you have an insane backlog.
I guess I'm hoping for somewhere between a "it's coming next year...sorry, it's not," and "look at this game that won't be coming for 6 years (Sony)."
Nintendo is truly the diamond in the dirt.
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