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By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Path of Exile boss on crunch: 'I will not run this company that way'

In a frank post on Reddit, Grinding Gear Games co-founder Chris Wilson wrote about the Path of Exile studio's workload, the disappointing Synthesis league and how he won't make the team crunch just to cram more improvements and fixes into a patch POE currency trade .

"Some studios make their teams work 14 hour days to pack every patch full of the most fixes and improvements possible. Sometimes when we read our own Patch Notes threads and community feedback, we feel that we are being asked to do the same. I will not run this company that way."

Wilson acknowledged that some optional paid overtime is necessary near league updates, but that the majority of the development cycle leaves the team with a "great work/life balance". The result, he explained, was that some improvements take longer to be made.

The topic of crunch was raised not just because it's something that's being discussed more openly by various studios and individual game workers; Grinding Gear Games also has a pretty full plate and an intimidating schedule.

The Synthesis update ended up being more work than the team anticipated and wasn't up to the studio's usual standards. Improvements have been made since launch, but Wilson's decided not to merge it into the core game in the next update, which will be revealed in three weeks POE currency .