Hutch Games has announced the continuation of the four-day work week system, as this experiment has proven to be successful. The company said this practice didn’t have a negative impact on productivity.
As Hutch Games pointed out on its official website, the four-day work weeks helped reduce staff turnover and increase job offer acceptance rates.
The UK studio began trailing this system in June as part of its partnership with 4 Day Week Global. It was implemented across three offices in London, Dundee, and Nova Scotia.
“A key learning from the trial is that productivity should not be valued by time spent on tasks, instead we needed to ensure that we were focused on outputs,” Hutch Games CEO Shaun Rutland said. “The way we work and how we spend our time day to day has improved as a result, helped by our Hutchies feeling refreshed after a three day weekend.”
The company will now make the four-day work week a rolling 12-month policy for all employees. There will also be a few adjustments to this system such as bi-monthly team days and working on Fridays during bank holiday weeks.
Founded in 2011, Hutch Games is best known for its mobile racing games like F1 Clash and Rebel Racing. It has a user base of over 350 million players. In 2020, Swedish corporation The Modern Times Group acquired the studio for $375 million.
Hutch Games is on the growing list of game companies to adopt or at least try four-day work weeks. It includes Young Horses, Kitfox Games, and Eidos Montreal. Earlier this year, Bandai Namco also started a six-month trial to implement this system.