The latest development in MindsEye was mostly disappointing, but it still came with a little surprise.
As reported by IGN, the entire Build A Rocket Boy studio in the UK received letters confirming they were at-risk of redundancy. We reported on Build A Rocket Boy starting this redundancy process a little over a week ago, but this apparently hinted at bigger problems. YouTuber CYBER BOI alleged that the studio had actually been taking advantage of a UK law loophole by cycling between lower paid probationary employees for years, instead of adding full time developers to polish and finish MindsEye. If CYBER BOI’s claims are accurate, they have to lay off so much more employees after MindsEye’s failure that they went past the loophole and initiated the formal redundancy process.
IGN also reported that these layoffs affect another studio, PlayFusion. When Build A Rocket Boy acquired PlayFusion in late 2024, its CEO Mark Gerhard came on board as the new co-CEO of Build A Rocket Boy, alongside Leslie Benzies. PlayFusion is currently working on its own FPS, Ascendant, slated to release this year.
And with this revelation, it does seem that Build A Rocket Boy does have a chance to rally back after the failure of MindsEye. When the game first earned the ignominious honor of becoming the worst reviewed game of the year (so far), it definitely looked like the studio was in death’s door. Build A Rocket Boy originally designed MindsEye as a game experience inside an even bigger open sandbox creation platform called Everywhere. When Everywhere first went public, and it became clear that it would not become grownup Roblox, the studio pivoted towards making a narrative title in c.
IGN also reports that Leslie Benzies had his first video call with the staff since the game launched, nearly a month ago. Benzies apparently told his staff that Build A Rocket Boy would be able to bounce back, and that he intended to ‘relaunch’ MindsEye. In this call, Benzies mirrored co-CEO’s Mark Gerhard’s claims that the game is victim of sabotage, from outside and within.
As a game, MindsEye is not entirely without merit, and it would not be unreasonable to think that it could go into a redemption narrative, the same way CD Projekt RED did with Cyberpunk 2077 or Hello Games did with No Man’s Sky. However, what we know about Build A Rocket Boy itself, both in official news and statements and also from rumors, does not fill with confidence. Right now, Leslie Benzies is going to have to prove he has what it takes to do what Sean Murray did.
