Crunch and Other Systems Archetypes in Game Studios
One of my favorite parts of The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge is his focus on systems thinking. So many persistent problems within organizations (and individuals!) stem from invisible systems that shape behavior and outcomes. When these systems go unexamined, we often default to short-term fixes or blame external forces, never addressing the root causes.
Senge offers a practical lens for understanding these dynamics through what he calls system archetypes: recurring patterns of behavior that show up across all types of organizations.
I’ve been thinking about how these show up in game development, where technical complexity, creativity, and tight deadlines collide. Below are archetypes from the book paired with examples from my experience working with game studios around the world.
Understanding these archetypes can help you spot when these systems are in play, and inform where you might intervene for maximum leverage and impact.
Quick legend for reading the images:
- An arrow means that one element influences the other
- A scale means this is a balancing loop seeking equilibrium
- A snowball means this is a self-reinforcing loop
1. Balancing Process with Delay
Definition: A team takes corrective action toward a goal but doesn’t realize that feedback is delayed. They overcompensate, or give up, before results can show.
Game studio example: A studio shipping a live game notices a drop in player retention and quickly scrambles to overhaul the onboarding flow. But retention doesn’t immediately bounce back. Panicked, they begin redesigning the economy, the tutorial, even the first boss fight... All before giving the onboarding changes a chance to take effect. The fragmented fixes create confusion, and players now churn for different reasons than before.
Takeaway: In sluggish systems, moving aggressively can actually produces more instability. Either be patient or find ways to make the system more responsive.
2. Limits to Growth
Definition: A positive feedback loop drives rapid growth, but hidden limits eventually slow or reverse progress.
Game studio example: An indie studio finds overnight success with their first title, attracting publisher interest and doubling their team size to handle the sequel. But the new hires lack a shared culture, the production pipeline doesn’t scale, and coordination breaks down. Feature delays, internal misalignment, and quality issues erode the goodwill built by the first game. Players lose interest, and the sequel underperforms.
Takeaway: Before pushing the growth process, remove or weaken the limiting factors first.
3. Shifting the Burden
Definition: A short-term fix solves a symptom, but over time it replaces deeper, more sustainable solutions.
Game studio example: Crunch is the classic example of this. As the deadline for launch gets closer, a studio has to work more and more overtime to finish the game in time. If it works, this now becomes one of the tools management relies on to get the next game out in time. When the underlying reasons for the slipping production are not examined, this pattern is doomed to repeat, and can even lead to "death marches," where one crunch period follows immediately after the other.
Takeaway: Make sure to keep the fundamental solution in focus. If you must use a symptomatic solution, do this only to gain time to work towards a fundamental solution.
4. Eroding Goals
Definition: A form of “shifting the burden” where the fix involves lowering long-term aspirations.
Game studio example: Here's one I see a lot: a studio with a strong design vision finds it hard to hit content milestones. Instead of investing in better planning, reducing scope, or doubling down on accountability, they accept that good work routinely takes longer than the initial deadline. Over time, people learn that planning is purely aspirational, and getting any project done on time now seems like a pipe dream.
Takeaway: Hold the vision, and ruthlessly investigate any situation that would cause you to lower your performance standards.
5. Escalation
Definition: Two sides compete to outdo or protect themselves from the other, creating a destructive feedback loop.
Game studio example: not directly game studio related, but since we're all currently dealing with the effects: the current AI arms race. Everyone is doubling down on AI tools that have (so far) limited uses and glaring faults, just so they won't be left behind if and when it does cross the magical thresshold that proponents are predicting will finally make it profitable. If Microsoft wasn't stuck in this particular tunnel, I'm sure we would have seen significantly fewer layoffs and cancellations last week.
Takeaway: Find ways to create a win-win situation. It's often possible to reverse this cycle if one of the sides can give the other side credible reasons to feel less threatened.
6. Success to the Successful
Definition: Two groups or activities compete for limited resources. Success breeds more success, and more resources, while the other is starved.
Game studio example: The PvP team in a live service game drives strong engagement and gets more resources to grow their roadmap. Meanwhile, the PvE team struggles with limited support and falls behind in quality. Leadership sees this as evidence that PvE “isn’t worth investing in,” diverting even more resources to PvP. Eventually, PvE players churn, narrowing the player base—and the game’s potential.
Also: Fortnite.
Takeaway: Let the overarching goal dictate what a balanced success would look like. In some cases, you might have to weaken or even break the coupling between the two activities so that they are no longer competing for the same resource.
7. Tragedy of the Commons
Definition: A shared, limited resource is overused by individuals acting in their own short-term interest, ultimately degrading the resource for everyone.
Game studio example: Here's one that should be recognizable for co-dev and work-for-hire studios. A small team is freed up of client work to develop the studio's own game. But each time a client project starts to get off rails, members of this team are pulled off the game to help bring the client projects home. Progress on the game goes almost unnoticeably slow, and the unpredictable start-stop rhythm makes people not want to work on it. Inevitably, the studio draws the conclusion that it's impossible to do both client work and develop their own games at the same time.
Takeaway: Manage and protect the "commons". Do this by educating everyone on their value, and facilitate either self-regulation and peer pressure or official regulating mechanisms, ideally with input from participants.
8. Fixes That Fail
Definition: A fix works in the short term but creates long-term consequences that worsen the original problem.
Game studio example: In order to hit a deadline, a studio resorts to haphazardly patching problems in their game. Anything goes, as long as it works! This creates complex interdependencies in the game's code that, turns out, make it that much harder to maintain and update. Because any change in one part of the game might break something somewhere else, even relatively straightforward things like future updates and ports are now much more difficult, requiring many more man hours, and in some cases making any future updates downright unfeasible.
Takeaway: Keep the focus on the long term. Try to avoid short-term fixes if possible, or only use them to buy enough time to solve the problem for the long term.
9. Growth and Underinvestment
Definition: As demand increases, the system needs investment to sustain growth. But fear of slowing growth leads to underinvestment, which ultimately causes stagnation or collapse.
Game studio example: A mobile studio sees fast growth in its user base but delays scaling customer support and backend infrastructure to protect short-term profitability. As DAU climbs, server issues and delayed support tickets frustrate players. Ratings drop, user acquisition becomes more expensive, and growth flatlines. Had they invested earlier, the trajectory could have continued.
Takeaway: If you are certain about the potential for growth, make sure you build capacity first. Hold the vision, especially with regards to performance standards and the ability to meet demand.
P.S. Part of the value of the Long Game Operating System for studio management is that it sets up structures and processes that prevent unwanted systems like the ones above from developing. Curious to hear what else it includes, and how it can help you lead your studio with more confidence, better results, and less friction? Let's talk!
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