Just weeks ago, MindsEye shipped a new DLC, allegedly parodying the ‘sabotage' effort that took place against the game while in development. Now, Build a Rocket Boy is reportedly undergoing a massive downsizing. 

According to a Kotaku report, Build a Rocket Boy is letting go of around 170 staff members. VGC points out that layoffs are confirmed by employee LinkedIn posts, as well as messages on the official MindsEye Discord server by community managers.

MindsEye just received its latest DLC last month, on April 28th. In the DLC you play as Julia Black, a fictional assassin sent to Redrock City to take out two targets. During the mission you uncover a rogue influencer agency and references to a corporate sabotage event. Previously, Build a Rocket Boy executives have alleged that a competitor paid for a smear campaign against MindsEye ahead of its launch.

It would seem that the new DLC was not the turning point for MindsEye, although the exact reasoning for the layoffs has not been shared. Build a Rocket Boy CEO, Mark Gerhard, said as recently as March that the sabotage effort against the company was now undergoing a criminal investigation.

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KitGuru Says: The recent review scores for MindsEye have been positive on Steam, but the volume of reviews is still very low, which would indicate that few returned for the new DLC. 

A little more than a week after unionized members of the Build a Rocket Boy staff took legal action against the studio's leadership for installing spy software on work devices that allegedly violated data protection laws, Chris Wilson, a former animator who worked at the studio for the last six years and has worked in the video game industry for more than two decades has come forward to share just exactly what it was like working on MindsEye under former Rockstar producer Leslie Benzies and his co-chief executive officer, Mark Gerhard. In a massive interview with Kotaku, Wilson is very […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/mindseye-dev-speaks-on-alleged-corporate-sabotage-was-just-hate-mail-to-build-a-rocket-boy-ceo/

Last year, Build a Rocket Boy released MindsEye, a game that was arguably the worst release of 2025 and one of the worst launches in video game history, something that the studio's leadership even acknowledged. But it didn't do so while bearing the full brunt of the blame. Studio leadership Mark Gerhard and Leslie Benzies have held that the game's poor launch was the result of internal and external corporate espionage and sabotage, which Benzies and Gerhard allegedly tried to combat by installing surveillance software on company devices. It's that attempt to spy on its own staff that has a […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/unionized-mindseye-developers-take-legal-action-against-build-a-rocket-boy-management-for-spying-on-staff/

MindsEye was easily one of 2025’s biggest fumbles, with the ambitious title from ex-Rockstar president Leslie Benzies and studio Build A Rocket Boy receiving less-than-stellar reviews upon its initial launch last year. Since then, the situation has continued to devolve, with claims of intentional sabotage supposedly having taken place. In the wake of Build A Rocket Boy’s separation from its publisher IOI, the team have now released their planned 2026 roadmap.

In a surprise announcement, the team at Build A Rocket Boy published a blog post discussing the future of MindsEye, writing: “Build A Rocket Boy is now self-publishing MindsEye. This gives us more direct control over the game and how we communicate. We can move faster, respond more quickly, and you will hear things from us first. Here is what we are working on.”

Focusing on the more live-service aspects to MindsEye, 2026’s roadmap is said to feature the following:

• Multiplayer races
• ARCADIA Race Builder for consoles
• PC ARCADIA builds coming to console

In addition to these ancillary updates, MindsEye also looks set to receive some more substantive story-based content, with ’BLACKLISTED’ being described as follows:

“Step into the role of Julia Black, a world-class assassin on a mission to Redrock City to eliminate two key targets. Working for Meridian, an agency under pressure from both outside forces and internal threats, every move carries risk. Infiltrate a criminal network, sabotage a deadly deal, and uncover the truth in a story driven by espionage, deception, and precision.”

Given the state of the game, and reception towards it at launch, it is somewhat of a pleasant surprise to see MindsEye receiving any form of additional content. That said, whether it will be enough to turn the tides on what many agree to be a failed project, we will have to wait and see.

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KitGuru says: Did you try out MindsEye at launch? Does it have a solid foundation to build upon? Let us know your thoughts down below.

If you turn the clock back two years to 2024, Build a Rocket Boy (BaRB) was known as the studio founded by former Rockstar producer Leslie Benzies, and with $110M raised in funding, it seemed poised to be the next big independent studio in the market. That's two years ago though. Now, it's known as the team behind MindsEye, one of the worst games to release in 2025, with one of the worst launches ever, and apparently, the co-chief executive officer of BaRB, Mark Gerhard, believes MindsEye's launch was, undoubtedly, the worst launch in video game history. "We know we […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/mindseye-worst-launch-in-history-says-barb-ceo-still-claims-negativity-was-orchestrated/

Build a Rocket Boy is the studio known for making what was arguably the worst game in 2025 with MindsEye, as well as being known for having a c-suite executive class that would rather pin the studio and MindsEye's woes on alleged corporate espionage instead of their own mistakes and issues they have as leaders. The core of Build a Rocket Boy is based in the UK, but it also has a satellite team it set up in Montpellier, known as Build a Rocket Boy France. The team worked on MindsEye alongside the UK team, and now, the studio has […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/mindseye-co-developer-build-a-rocket-boy-france-placed-in-judicial-liquidation/

MindsEye was easily one of 2025’s biggest fumbles, with the ambitious title from ex-Rockstar president Leslie Benzies and studio Build A Rocket Boy receiving less-than-stellar reviews upon its initial launch last year. Since then, the situation has continued to devolve, with claims of intentional sabotage supposedly having taken place. In amongst all the drama, it appears as though publisher IO Interactive wants to distance themselves from the title, officially announcing that they have now ended their “publishing collaboration.”

Last month, insiders claimed that Build A Rocket Boy would soon be announcing that they “have decided to part ways with their publisher, IO Interactive” in order to “bring its publishing in-house and gain more control over its future.”

Sure enough, the announcement has now come to pass, with IOI and Build A Rocket Boy sharing a joint press release, stating: “IOI Partners and Build A Rocket Boy today announce the conclusion of their publishing collaboration for MindsEye, effective 16 March 2026, with Build A Rocket Boy assuming sole publishing responsibilities going forward.”

While some of you may have forgotten, it was previously announced that HITMAN would be crossing over into MindsEye at some point in the future. In the wake of this separation however, the collab has been cancelled, with them writing:

“The Hitman mission announced in June 2025, planned as a crossover event within MindsEye, will no longer be released. However, BARB [Build A Rocket Boy] plans on working with partners on other projects in the future. Both IOI Partners and Build A Rocket Boy recognize the anticipation this collaboration generated among the community and express their appreciation for the support shown by the players.”

IOI’s partnership with MindsEye ultimately was not the greatest of starts for the company’s publishing division. That said, hopefully this whole situation serves as a lesson to both IOI and Build A Rocket Boy. It will be interesting to see what the future of MindsEye looks like.

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KitGuru says: Are you surprised by the announcement? Does MindsEye have any potential? Let us know down below.

Build a Rocket Boy didn't have the best debut when MindsEye launched last year. Since then, the studio's co-CEO, Mark Gerhard, has been openly talking about an illegal sabotage effort employed against the game, going as far as saying that one “big American company” spent as much as €1 million trying to harm the studio's reputation. Now, Gerhard claims that the case is moving towards prosecution, while also announcing layoffs at the studio.

Previously, a leaked internal meeting recording from early 2026 revealed that Build a Rocket Boy bosses believe they have uncovered evidence of a sabotage effort against the game. Now in a new statement shared on LinkedIn, Gerhard publicly spoke about the conspiracy, saying:

“Over the past months we have been working with external partners and legal advisors to investigate the criminal activity that took place around our launch. That work has taken far longer than expected, but it has now resulted in overwhelming evidence of organised espionage and corporate sabotage affecting MindsEye. Because this matter is moving toward prosecution, we cannot share the full details publicly yet.”

Gerhard added that there will also be layoffs happening at the studio in an effort to protect its long-term future and on-going projects: “While the investigation has progressed, the team has worked relentlessly to evolve the game and to serve our players. I am incredibly proud of the dedication and resilience our developers have shown. However, the prolonged impact of the difficult launch means that we still had to take the brutal and heartbreaking step of reducing the size of the studio once again to ensure the long-term future of the company and the projects we continue to build.”

As spotted by VGC, Gerhard's LinkedIn post has drawn some criticism, with one artist saying that it is “rude to announce layoffs alongside this conspiracy theory”. A manager at another studio also stated that the post was disrespectful to those impacted by the layoffs. While not everyone has bought in to the MindsEye conspiracy theory, one former engineer at Build a Rocket Boy, Jordan Rey, did comment in support of the post, stating that they themselves were the target of criminal activity while working on the MindsEye launch.

As Build a Rocket Boy is looking to take multiple parties to court over its claims, none of the evidence has been shared publicly yet. If the case goes to trial, then some of the most pertinent information will become a matter of public record.

KitGuru Says: Have you tried MindsEye at all after its most recent updates? Has the game improved?

Build a Rocket Boy, the studio co-founded by Mark Gerhard and Leslie Benzies, the latter of which was a long-time producer at Rockstar who worked on several Grand Theft Auto titles, has announced another round of mass layoffs after its debut project, MindsEye, was one of 2025's catastrophic disasters. In a statement posted to the studio's LinkedIn page, Gerhard calls the layoffs "a deeply painful decision," and that "letting colleagues go is never something any leader wants to do, and I know the impact this will have on individuals, families, and our wider community." That said, in the face of […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/mindseye-build-a-rocket-boy-announces-more-layoffs-ceo-blames-organized-espionage-corporate-sabotage/