I don’t work in the industry and I could be way off here. But aren’t some of the developers hired on as a type of contract worker to finish a big game and well aware that if the next project isn’t lined up perfectly, it’s impossible to house that many employees. That’s how our construction industry is. Companies have to hire on and then trim the fat as needed.

I was at around 55 hrs during endgame, which was finishing the main story line after doing most of the side quests. I think I had 1 main base with 10 - 20 buildings and equipment. I was playing on a series S. I am boggled you didn’t have many crashes, I’ve seen hundreds of reports of similar issues when I was trying to figure out what was going on.

Endgame was brutal. It was a 50/50 chance if you paused to save while moving it would crash.

My honest review, I had fun with it. It’s best described as an ocean of content but only 1” deep. The ship building was really the only unique thing in this game and it was really well done I thought. Beyond that it was the usual Bethesda mess that I expected. So I wasn’t totally put off by the jenk. Except for the late game crashes…. In the end game on the series S, I would crash ~ 40% of the time I paused to save if I was in action. Really frustrating.