Crunch culture has long been considered one of the main issues plaguing the games industry, but RPG veteran Josh Sawyer believes that burnout has now "replaced" it as industry's "primary hazard".
Burnout is something that anyone can experience, and is characterized as a mental and physical exhaustion generally brought on by long-term stress. Crunch, on the other hand, usually refers to working overtime, for long hours and generally for an extended period of time, perhaps to ensure that a game is finished in time for a deadline. It's easy to see how crunch could potentially contribute to burnout, but regardless, Sawyer says that having been through the latter himself, "it's no joke," and more needs to be done to change it.
