My understanding is that crunch time (as well as the release of flagrantly buggy games with patches coming later) is driven primarily by marketing schedules/bud

My understanding is that crunch time (as well as the release of flagrantly buggy games with patches coming later) is driven primarily by marketing schedules/budgets. Ad buys, press releases, interviews etc. are negotiated and coordinated months in advance, and big releases from any given publisher need to be staggered largely so that they don't all demand marketing money at the same time.