Development of DOOM: The Dark Ages – Revelations pushed the id Software team into severe overtime, according to a former producer. Andrew Willis says he worked at least 12 hours a day for two months, with some shifts stretching to 17 hours.

Former id Software producer Andrew Willis described the punishing production of DOOM: The Dark Ages – Revelations during an interview with Kiwi Talkz. He says much of the expansion was completed in just three or four months while new features kept being added to the project.

“There were two months where I worked at least 12 hours every day. I know I hit 17 hours a couple of days. It was brutal.”

Willis says the extreme workload affected the entire team. Some colleagues who had spent 20 years in Hollywood and another decade in game development reportedly called it the worst crunch period of their careers.

Quality expectations became a form of pressure

The former producer stressed that neither Microsoft nor Bethesda executives directly ordered the overtime. He described it as “pseudo-induced crunch”: the team received so much work that completing it within normal hours would have meant accepting a lower standard. Forty-hour weeks therefore grew into periods approaching 80 hours.

Willis also recalled days when he did not see his son at all. The experience ended even more bitterly when he was laid off from id Software during Microsoft’s July cuts, just one day before the expansion launched.

Source: 3DJuegos