.jpg?q=50&fit=contain&w=1140&h=570&dpr=1.5)
Since the pandemic began, work has changed for many. But the flexible and remote working conditions that were put in place have accelerated a process that was already occurring. Increasingly, more and more companies are willing to experiment with different working schedules and styles.
And why not? The five-day working week – Monday to Friday, eight-hour shifts – is a relatively recent invention, after all, designed by factory and mill owners in the early 20th century to standardise production. But in the knowledge economy of the 21st century, might our minds work better on a different schedule?
Hutch Games recently made headlines as a participating company in a trial being led by academics at Oxford and Cambridge university, Boston College in the US and the thinktank Autonomy.
A British mobile games developer, with offices in London and Scotland, Hutch specialises in racing strategy titles such as F1 Manager, Rebel Racing and Top Drives. The 120 employees of Hutch will join telecoms firm Yo Telecom and training company MBL Seminars in shifting from a 40-hour five-day workweek to a four-day, 32-hour workweek. The trial is being overseen by campaign group 4 Day Week Global.
In the games industry reports of crunch have blighted numerous studios, so the decision to commit not only to anti-crunch but to a reduction in overall working hours is noteworthy.
TheGamer spoke with Shaun Rutland, CEO and co-founder of Hutch Games, and Charmaine Clavier-St John, its Head of People, to chat about their motivations behind the trial.
SR - Shaun Rutland - CEO and Co-Founder
CSJ - Charmaine Clavier-St John, Head of People
(Answers have been edited for length and clarity.)
TheGamer: How did the decision come about?
SR: The decision to join the 4 Day Work Week trial is really something that was an obvious next step for Hutch. Our history as a developer has been highly focused on giving our team the best possible experience of working in the games industry, and for good reason. Hutch was created by myself and fellow founders who had all spent years in the world of AAA game development.
We experienced the grueling hours and strain of a non-stop work cycle, but we loved the work and making games. We decided that Hutch would be designed to put a stop to crunch culture and that we would do everything in our power to look after our team.
Our parent company, The Modern Times Group, is also fully behind this initiative and together we will use the insights to act as a collaborative force for good in the industry.
CSJ: We really believe in the fact that the 4 day working week is the future, not just in the games industry but for everyone. Over the years, we’ve introduced policies such as hybrid working and flexible hours so we have a good foundation to work from…
4 Day Work Week Global will be working with us closely throughout the process, and we will establish support for our team so that we can quickly spot and solve any challenges that arise.
TG: Are productivity and wellbeing the main two factors being considered?
CSJ: These are absolutely two very important reasons as to why we have joined the trial. We hope a 4 Day Work Week will help reduce risks of burnout and keep our team energised during their work, but the most important aspect is to do everything in our power to make working for Hutch an awesome experience for all involved. We want our team to use their precious time to spend with their families, friends and pursuing their out-of-work passions.
But there are a number of other benefits that we are very interested in exploring. We also hope that the trial will show a positive impact on gender equality by allowing for parents to more equally share the responsibility of raising children. We see this as an opportunity to give our female employees more flexibility in roles and growth within Hutch.
TG: Do you think your trial will influence other studios?
SR: We really hope so! We feel that if this trial succeeds it will do a great deal to influence other studios who will hopefully see the benefits of a 4 day week. Anyone who keeps up with industry news knows that there have been so many tragic stories of crunch and harm from the impossibly demanding expectations in game development, and the more we can do to put an end to this, the better. But it is worth considering that there are many different angles to employee wellbeing, the 4 day work week being one of them, and our belief is that employers overall do more to find ways to improve the wellbeing of their teams.
If we’re talking about our bigger ambitions, we know from our many friends in the industry that it's extremely difficult to convince partners that they can do as much valuable and high quality work in 4 days, when compared to the standard 5. We want to force the industry to rethink how games are made and, for once, be seen as a sector that looks after talented people, rather than exploiting their passion. If we can make this impact and institute a 4 day week as standard, this will also lead to positive change on all services connected to the games industry. We have big hopes for how this can change the landscape!
But it is exciting to see the movement starting to take off. Other companies have already announced a shift to a 4-day working week including the likes of Crows, Crows, Crows and Young Horses. We hope to soon see more AAA studios follow the example of the likes of Eidos-Montreal, getting involved and finding out the benefits for themselves.
TG: What do the employees think? Any ideas how they will use their extra time off?
CSJ: So far, the announcement of the trial has been really positively received throughout Hutch. Our team is extremely excited about having an extra day off to pursue hobbies or spend more time with friends and family. The great thing is there are infinite possibilities that everyone will be able to explore. As well as spending time with loved ones, we’ve heard people will use the extra time to learn and develop new skills or potentially do some volunteering. It will be fantastic to see what our Hutchies will get up to with that extra day of flexibility to their livelihoods.
TG: Does Hutch foresee any issues that might arise if, say, a game is nearing ship date?
SR: There is always the risk that not everything will go as smoothly as we hope, but even so our ‘no-crunch’ culture will never be undermined whilst we take part in the trial. However, we have to be aware of the chance that there could be some roles that struggle with the shift to a 4 day working week. We will be doing everything in our power to ensure that everyone within the company can enjoy this new change fully.
Regarding release windows, crunch is simply not an option. We simply do not work in the traditional game launch manner here at Hutch. Although our games actually tend to ship early, it’s down to us when we decide to push that button for the game to be available globally. It’s completely in our hands. We are already a highly profitable company, so the last thing we would ever want to do would be to make decisions which directly affect our staff’s wellbeing in order to bring in those profits earlier. With this in mind, we take a very long-term view of this, so no decisions are made in the short term that could directly impact our staff.
CSJ: Regarding which days of the week will be taken off is still to be determined, but this is a big consideration going forward. Thankfully, we have tons of support from 4 Day Work Week Global. Again, this is the reason why we joined the trial as opposed to going it alone, as we will have access to everything we need to learn and grow.
TG: Does Hutch think a video games publication like TheGamer should institute a four-day work week?
SR: Although video games news never stops (as you know), it would be great to see publications getting to enjoy an extra day off like our fellow Hutchies will! Lots of different companies are considering how they can make a 4 day week work for them and we’re really excited to see how this develops following our trial. Personally, I’d love to see everyone get that extra day off, and to get back more control of their lives outside of work. It never hurts to ask the question!
Hutch’s four-day week will kick off in June and will run through to December, with the data collected by researchers at Cambridge and Oxford universities, and Boston College, who hope the gathered results can make an official case for a change in working patterns.