In the video game industry, the term “crunch” refers to an extended period of strenuous unpaid work in the months on either side of a game launch. Employers often expect their employees to work extra hours and weekends, often sixty and sometimes a hundred hours a week. The most egregious instances of crunch are sometimes referred to as “death marches,” and can last for years.

Industry giants have promoted crunch as a rite of passage that tests mettle and confers insider status on video game developers. But when we peel back the layers of spin, we can see crunch culture for what it really is: exploitation.

A former artist at Activision, referred to here as Lucas, told Jacobin that one of his coworkers suffered a heart attack at his desk during a particularly brutal crunch period. Another colleague would come in while sick, said Lucas, and vomit into a trash can at their desk because they didn’t feel they could miss the crunch. These horror stories are pervasive in the industry, and crunches at big companies like Activision Blizzard are, as Lucas described them, a “total arms race” that raise expectations at other workplaces throughout the industry.