NPR This is the indicator from Planet Money, I'm Dariam Woods.

And I'm Whelan Wong.

All this week we've been learning about the economics of the video game industry

and how the medium has evolved into an immersive and highly lucrative form of entertainment.

But there is a cost to putting out these complex products,

and that cost is often felt in human terms.

Workers at video game companies are known for putting in long grueling hours.

This punishing schedule is so entrenched in the industry that it has a special name.

Crunch. Crunch.

Crunch.

And crunch has long been treated as a necessary evil for producing high quality games on time.

You always hear about crunch.

I've definitely done the, know get there very early like

three or four a.m. and like stayed until very late sort of thing. It was truly a lot of suffering until we were not suffering anymore.

But those attitudes are changing and video game workers are organizing to push for better conditions on the job.

Today in the show, we talk to some of those workers about how they want to

improve their industry and start to make Crunch a thing of the past. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Wise, the app that makes

managing your money in different currencies easy. With Wise, you can send and

spend money internationally at the mid-market exchange rate.

No guesswork and no hidden fees.

Learn more about how Wise could work for you at wise.

Com.

...