MindsEye Fires 300; Ex-GTA Boss Benzies Addresses Staff

Build A Rocket Boy, the Edinburgh-based developer behind MindsEye, has issued emails notifying its approximately 300 UK employees of potential job losses following the game's troubled launch.

Sources close to the situation informed IGN that similar at-risk notices were sent to staff at PlayFusion, which BARB acquired in late 2024. PlayFusion, whose CEO Mark Gerhard became co-CEO of BARB as part of the deal, is developing a separate title—a fast-paced FPS named Ascendant originally slated for release this year.

Last month, IGN reported that BARB had initiated a redundancy process after MindsEye's release. The mandatory 45-day consultation period began on June 23, a step required under UK law when an employer plans 100 or more layoffs within 90 days. IGN understands Build A Rocket Boy currently employs around 300 people in the UK, with a further 200 based internationally.

At the time, BARB released a statement confirming the layoff process, stating the cuts would allow the studio to “focus on delivering ongoing updates and performance optimization for MindsEye while securing the long-term success of Build A Rocket Boy's future projects.”

Shortly after MindsEye launched, BARB expressed being “heartbroken” over the issues players encountered and pledged a series of patches to address significant performance problems, glitches, and AI behavior bugs. The deployment of these fixes has now commenced.

Throughout this period, the game's rocky launch led the developer to cancel sponsored streams, with reports emerging online of players successfully obtaining refunds—even from the typically strict Sony.

On Steam, which offers only a partial view of the game's current popularity, MindsEye reached a peak concurrent player count of 3,302 at launch but later saw a 24-hour peak of just 46 players. At the time of writing, 26 people were playing on Steam, where the game holds a 'mostly negative' user review rating.

MindsEye, a story-driven action-adventure title, was initially conceived as part of Everywhere—an adult-oriented creation platform led by former Grand Theft Auto design chief Leslie Benzies, often described as a "Roblox for adults." BARB ultimately pivoted to focus solely on MindsEye, but the game has yet to achieve commercial success for the company.

Meanwhile, BARB sources told IGN that Benzies finally addressed staff following MindsEye's release in a brief video call on July 2. According to two individuals present who requested anonymity to protect their careers, Benzies insisted BARB would recover and relaunch MindsEye, attributing the studio's and game's struggles partly to internal and external saboteurs, among other factors.

These remarks echo similar comments made by co-CEO Mark Gerhard before MindsEye's launch. Gerhard made headlines by claiming there was a "concerted effort" by some parties to "trash the game and the studio," suggesting individuals were being paid or using spam bots to post negative comments. The head of publisher IO Interactive, developer of the Hitman series, later denied these allegations.

BARB sources told IGN there is an internal hope for a MindsEye redemption story that could eventually lead to success for the studio. However, as employees await news of their job security, serious doubts remain over whether BARB can deliver its post-launch content roadmap—including the promised multiplayer mode—on schedule.

Earlier this week, BARB released MindsEye's third post-launch update for consoles, with a PC version to follow. “We've analyzed hundreds of hours of gameplay footage and reviewed player feedback from multiple channels to prioritize the most critical issues and enhance the experience for all our console players,” the studio stated.