'It's not cool to burn out': New Leeds game boss Sitara Shefta declares war on 'crunch' culture

In the world of game development, it's called the "crunch." But it also has names in other walks of life.

It is that familiar cycle where an extraordinary push to hit a deadline gradually becomes the expected baseline for everyday survival.

You step up, stay late, absorb the pressure, and save the day - only for your heroism to be recoded as the new bare minimum.

Over time, going above and beyond stops being an exception and simply becomes what is required to keep your head above water.

In the video game industry, this relentless late-night grind was once worn like a badge of honour.

But for Sitara Shefta, Co-Founder, CEO, and Game Director at new Leeds-based Pretty Cool Games, breaking that cycle is the core mission of her business.

"Crunch is where everybody’s overworking, and usually people are very, very tired and burnt out," Sitara explains. "There was a perception a few years ago that it’s a badge of honour, an expectation.

“But when you’re knackered and tired, the quality of what you produce actually goes down - you end up producing more bugs because people are just going as fast as they can."

Shefta speaks from deep personal experience.

After spending seven years running a game studio in Tenerife and growing it exponentially, the call of home - and a desire to build a workplace rooted in empathy rather than burnout - proved impossible to ignore.

"We were missing home," Sitara says, referencing her co-founder and husband, Will Dudnley. "I’m from West Yorkshire originally. I grew up in Castleford - 'Cas-Vegas' - and went to school in 'Ponte Carlo'!

“We got to the point where we thought: why aren't we doing this for ourselves?"

Returning to West Yorkshire to establish Pretty Cool Games was a deliberate stand against London-centric bias.

"Leeds was a no-brainer," Sitara says. "It’s a city that has always thrived in creative ways. I’m a big believer that everything shouldn't have to be centralised around London. There’s so much talent across the UK, and I’m proud to be a Yorkshire girl advocating for more opportunities in the North."

That Northern grit is now fuelling a studio culture built entirely around trust, clear scope, and remote flexibility rather than heavy-handed micromanagement.

"Trust is number one," Sitara states flatly. "I’m dead against micromanagement as a philosophy - if you’re having to micromanage someone, they’re probably not the right fit. We run remotely, but we keep a tight-knit team.

“It’s about empowering creative people to put their ideas into practice, rather than treating them like a tiny cog in a 200-person machine."

That human-first strategy is already yielding major industry dividends: Pretty Cool Games recently secured investment from global publisher Hypergryph, marking the giant's first-ever European backing.

After spending over a year bootstrapping the venture off their own savings to build an initial prototype, the funding has allowed the studio to officially double its headcount, growing from two to four core developers.

And when it comes to the finished product, Shefta’s philosophy remains staunchly pragmatic: gameplay will always trump empty visual gimmicks.

"Gameplay first, 100 per cent," she says. "It’s all about the feel of a game in your hands. Art should be beautiful, but if the game isn't fun, what's the point in playing it?

“If a game feels fun when it just looks like plain cubes, you know you're onto something special."

As a West Yorkshire woman leading a tech company in an industry historically dominated by male-led AAA giants, Sitara hopes her journey sends a clear signal to underrepresented creators across the region.

"My advice is always just start," she says. "People have tried to put barriers in my way throughout my career, but that always motivated me to prove them wrong anyway. Don't be afraid.

“The best way to learn is by trying, failing fast, and trying again."

By proving that high-quality, internationally backed games can be made right here in Leeds - without sacrificing the health and sanity of the team making them - Pretty Cool Games is showing that you don't need to burn out to build something brilliant.