The studio has a very bad QOL reputation

Is the assessment up to date?
Some studios have had extremely bad reputation but that has changed a lot during the years. Others may still have problems; while I'm sure there are studios we've never heard complains that are actually bad.
Do your research about the current situation. May it be, that it doesn't have a bad QOL after all anymore.

I don't think anyone here can answer for you, but some things you should consider:

• Accuracy of reports you've read. Are they current employees? Do you know these people? How recent/consistent are the reports? At my studio different teams have vastly different work habits. Some teams are in constant crunch, some are a lot more balanced. It's not just the management, it's also a matter of budget. If your game is expected to sell 10 million copies, you'll obviously be given more resources (meaning more headcount) than a team working on a game only expected to sell 2 million copies, and sometimes a team's desires are bigger than their capabilities.

• What is a reasonable work week for you? Have you talked about it with your wife? My wife definitely kept reminding me how much she hated it when I used to work 60-80 hour weeks all the time (although this work wasn't mandated by my company). If I still did that she likely would have left me a long time ago. Now that I have a daughter as well, I work a lot less (I still work 9 hour days, but I'm home by 5:30 every night). Working long hours constantly definitely puts strain on relationships. Working long hours in your 20s isn't so bad. I didn't mind that.

A fun and easy way to check QoL at studios: If you are nearby, check the building and parking lot out in the evening around 4:00, 6:00, 7:00, and if necessary again at 8:00.

If the place goes from packed to empty between 4:00 and 6:00, that is a good sign. Lots of cars late at night is a very bad sign.

Better if you can do a few checks over a period of weeks, and there is always a chance you catch something like an after-hours party, but overall it can be very telling.

Slogging away at work every day can be horrible. But if it's your dream job, you might not actually consider it to be a slog, and be happy working long hours. I think that's a big question to ask yourself - if it's something that's so interesting to you, is the hard work a problem or not?

If doing this means putting your hobby-coding aside, are you happy to do that? On the flip side, it means freeing up more time which counters the longer working day - get home and turn off for the day.

Is working design at a AAA company worth 12 hour work days 6 days a week (hours according to people who work there)?

Have you asked your wife that question? I'd be surprised if she said yes.

If the company is so bad that they demand overtime and crunch hours, do they deserve you as an employee?

Probably not.

Keep in mind, the hordes of people who've worked on the popular game series that have been laid off/fired are left with nothing, despite making their parent companies millions. Unless you're getting equity, it's not worth it, nor does the company deserve competant workers.

A fun and easy way to check QoL at studios: If you are nearby, check the building and parking lot out in the evening around 4:00, 6:00, 7:00, and if necessary again at 8:00.

If the place goes from packed to empty between 4:00 and 6:00, that is a good sign. Lots of cars late at night is a very bad sign.

Better if you can do a few checks over a period of weeks, and there is always a chance you catch something like an after-hours party, but overall it can be very telling.

I approve of this method of stalking. If you do it long enough that you know who drive which cars, you might also find out who's having late-night office flings.

A fun and easy way to check QoL at studios: If you are nearby, check the building and parking lot out in the evening around 4:00, 6:00, 7:00, and if necessary again at 8:00.

Off topic, but this was a cute bit of foreign perspective for me (Americanism?). The last two big studios that I worked for were within 50m of a frequent (one every few minutes) tram stop and a mile from the nearest (expensive/commercial) car park ;)

A fun and easy way to check QoL at studios: If you are nearby, check the building and parking lot out in the evening around 4:00, 6:00, 7:00, and if necessary again at 8:00.

Off topic, but this was a cute bit of foreign perspective for me (Americanism?). The last two big studios that I worked for were within 50m of a frequent (one every few minutes) tram stop and a mile from the nearest (expensive/commercial) car park ;)

Public transport?!? sounds like socialism to me....

The public transport is nice if you live in a city where that is usable. Wikipedia says Melbourne's population density is 1,567/km2 (4,060/sq mi), which certainly helps with having an "every few minute" shuttle. Living in the second-most populated city in Australia does have urban advantages.

Poking through the cities that interest me for game studios right now, only a few come close to that. Most cities in the US are not very dense, instead they have suburban sprawl. There are a few cities that are sufficiently dense will have major mass transit options, such as the the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system that runs through San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and more, with shuttles directly to Sega, EA, Zynga, and a bunch of other studios.

But for most of us, parking lot espionage is a very easy way to see roughly how many people stick around after main hours.