Ex-Rockstar Boss Benzies' Studio MindsEye Warns Staff of Layoffs

Build A Rocket Boy, the Scotland-based developer of MindsEye located in Edinburgh, has sent at-risk notifications via email to its UK workforce of roughly 300 employees following the game's troubled launch.

According to sources familiar with the studio's internal situation, at-risk emails were also distributed to staff at PlayFusion, which BARB acquired in late 2024. PlayFusion, whose CEO Mark Gerhard became co-CEO of BARB as part of the acquisition, is developing a separate title—a fast-paced first-person shooter named Ascendant that was originally scheduled for release this year.

Last month, IGN reported that BARB had initiated a redundancy procedure following MindsEye's release. The standard 45-day consultation period began on June 23, a process required under UK law when an employer plans to make 100 or more redundancies within a 90-day timeframe. IGN understands that Build A Rocket Boy currently employs approximately 300 people in the UK, with an additional 200 staff based overseas.

At the time, BARB released a statement confirming the redundancy process, stating that the reductions would enable the studio to “focus on delivering ongoing updates and performance optimization for MindsEye, while ensuring the long-term success of Build A Rocket Boy’s future ambitions.”

Shortly after MindsEye’s launch, BARB expressed that it was “heartbroken” by the issues players encountered with the game and committed to rolling out a series of patches to address major performance problems, glitches, and AI behavior bugs. The deployment of these patches is now underway.

Throughout this period, the problematic launch led the developer to cancel sponsored streams, with online reports indicating that players were securing refunds—even from typically rigid platforms like Sony.

On Steam—although it doesn’t reflect the full scope of MindsEye’s current popularity—the game reached a peak concurrent player count of 3,302 at launch, but its 24-hour peak recently stood at just 46 players. At the time of publication, 26 people were playing on Steam, where MindsEye holds a 'mostly negative' user review rating.

MindsEye, a story-driven action-adventure game, was initially conceived as part of Everywhere, an adult-focused creation platform led by former Grand Theft Auto design chief Leslie Benzies, often described as a ‘Roblox for adults.’ BARB later shifted its focus to MindsEye, but the title has so far underperformed commercially.

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

These remarks echo statements made by Mark Gerhard prior to MindsEye’s launch. The co-CEO made headlines by alleging that a “concerted effort” was underway to “trash the game and the studio,” suggesting that individuals were being paid or using spam bots to post negative feedback. The head of publisher IO Interactive, known for the Hitman series, later denied these claims.

BARB sources indicated to IGN that internally, there is hope for a redemption arc for MindsEye, potentially leading to its eventual success. However, as employees await news about their job security, serious doubts remain about whether BARB can deliver on its post-launch content roadmap—including the promised multiplayer mode—according to schedule.

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