The situation at MindsEye studio Build a Rocket Boy has taken another weird turn in the form of a video chat between founder Leslie Benzies and employees. According to an IGN report, Benzies has committed to a "re-launch" of MindsEye, presumably with the goal of setting the game on a redemption arc, even though the entire studio is at risk of being let go.
Looming layoffs at Build a Rocket Boy were first confirmed last week, with the beginning of a 45-day consultancy period required by law in the UK when a company is planning to lay off more than 100 employees.
The studio acknowledged at the time that "some internal changes" were being made but seemed eager to play it down, saying that it was "working to reassign roles" for as many employees as possible, and that the consultation process "may result in redundancies."
Today's IGN report says the redundancy emails have been sent to everyone at Build a Rocket Boy's UK studio, however—estimated to be around 300 people—as well as to staff at PlayFusion, developer of the multiplayer shooter Ascendant, which Build a Rocket Boy acquired in 2024. That does not bode well for the studio's promise to keep working on the game until it doesn't suck.
But Benzies, famed as one of the driving forces behind the Grand Theft Auto series prior to his departure from Rockstar in 2014, seemingly has bigger plans than just fixes. On July 2, according to the report, he addressed studio staff via video chat, during which he reportedly said the studio would make a comeback and "relaunch" MindsEye, presumably to greater success than it's enjoyed so far, which to be blunt is none.
He also blamed at least some of the troubles with the game and the studio on—and I'm quoting IGN here—"internal and external saboteurs, among other things."
That's a wild statement to make, but it's also intriguing because Build a Rocket Boy co-CEO Mark Gerhard said something similar in May: That MindsEye's well documented pre-release troubles were the result of "a concerted effort to trash the game and the studio" being waged by forces unknown (but strongly implied to be Rockstar).
For both of Build a Rocket Boy's top guys to be making similar claims leaves us with two potential explanations:
1. The pressure is starting to get to everyone.
2. There really is a conspiracy against Build a Rocket Boy and MindsEye that somehow caused it to not be very good.
The existence of shadowy forces working to keep MindsEye from success is hard to believe, but frankly so is Benzies' promise of a relaunch and redemption arc. It immediately conjures thoughts of games like Cyberpunk 2077 or No Man's Sky, both of which managed remarkable turnarounds, but the problem with MindsEye isn't that it's buggy as hell or missing promised features: It just sucks, and that takes a lot more than bug fixes or a better PR campaign to turn around.
Another big hurdle is that there really doesn't appear to be much interest in a comeback. It's only been three weeks since MindsEye launched, and there are currently 26 people playing it on Steam. That's not the whole story—MindsEye is also available on console—but it's sure not a good sign.
Build a Rocket Boy has not yet commented publicly on any of this, and it remains to be seen what it all adds up to—probably nothing is my guess, but I'm genuinely curious where it all goes next. I've reached out to ask about its specific plans for the relaunch, and the conspiracy against it, and if someone happens to fill me in, I'll let you know.
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