ZeniMax's Rich Lambert Emphasizes Expectation Management to Prevent Crunch Time

According to Rich Lambert, creative director at ZeniMax Online Studios, proper expectation management by studio leaders is crucial in preventing crunch time during game development. Lambert shared his insights during an interview with GamesIndustry.biz at Devcom in Cologne, where he discussed the ongoing development of The Elder Scrolls Online. When asked about crunch time on the project, he admitted that it does occur to some extent, stating, "There is some – that's part of game development." However, he emphasized that the team avoids "sympathy crunch" where the entire team works overtime if one person has to. Instead, they leave it up to individual teams to manage their workload. The Elder Scrolls Online receives around 60 hours of new content annually, but Lambert acknowledged that scaling back content may be necessary to protect staff from burnout. He noted, "As managers, we've come to realise that just because we want something doesn't mean we should do it. We have to manage our expectations with what the team can physically produce." Lambert and art director Cj Grebb presented a talk at Devcom, detailing the process of creating a new expansion for the game. During the Q&A session, Grebb highlighted the team's efforts to push the technical capabilities of the game engine, saying, "You walk through a base zone and a new zone, you can see a decided difference between the two." Lambert added that despite the engine's limitations, the team has made significant technical improvements over the years, such as switching to DirectX 12, which has enhanced the game in ways they couldn't have anticipated when development began in 2007.