I agree.
Crunch is a project management failure. This is my professional opinion as a tech lead at a mid sized gaming company.
When I saw all the praise the game received at release, the level of detail etc. My first thought was, so what was the cost on individuals?
Don’t get me wrong, this is an amazing game. But I worry that a lot of overtime went into this.
And other projects will be measured against that. This might set another very bad example.
Then what made you think it’s a good idea to include that in your product now?!