A new report from the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has suggested that crunch and the expectation for staff to work for long or extended is on the decline.

In the trade body's 2019 survey, 41 per cent of the 1,116 respondents said their role involved crunch time. That's a ten per cent decline from the 51 per cent who said this was the case back in 2017. Meanwhile, 42 per cent said that staff were expected to crunch in their studio, a dip of 11 per cent since 2017.

35 per cent of developers replying to the questions said that they were expected to work long or extended hours, a nine per cent drop in the last two years.

It's not all good news, however. Developers report an increase in poor working conditions, something that 73 per cent of those surveyed said they had experienced. That's up 19 per cent from 2017. 54 per cent of respondents said they had experienced sexism in the workforce, while 29 per cent said they had experienced racism in their place of work. Those are increases of 15 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, the portion of developers who had experienced sexism and racism from gamers rose 15 per cent each to 72 per cent and 55 per cent respectively.

“The 2019 DSS results carry an empowering message: our industry on the right track,” IGDA executive director Renee Gittins (pictured) said.

“We’re seeing significant leaps in just two years’ time, but issues like unenforced anti-discrimination policies show we still have more work to do. The IGDA will use these results as a guide to continue our work to provide resources to help game developers all over the world have successful and - more importantly - sustainable careers.”