MindsEye Devs Rally Against Executives After Disastrous Launch

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MindsEye wasn’t successful, and its failure has led its publisher, IO Interactive, to reconsider publishing games made by other studios. However, the impact was most significant for the employees at Build A Rocket Boy, the game’s developer.

The game’s development was difficult. It began as part of a metaverse project that didn’t succeed, and several key leaders left the team just before the game was released.

Nearly 100 current and former Build A Rocket Boy employees, along with members of the Game Workers Branch of the IWGB union, have released an open letter. In it, they accuse the company’s leaders – co-CEOs Leslie Benzies and Mark Gerhard – of serious mismanagement.

The situation was extremely difficult, causing significant stress and health problems for employees. This intense pressure also resulted in hundreds of job losses through layoffs, as detailed in the letter.

‘CEOs Need To Take A Backseat’


Image Via IO Interactive

A letter signed by 93 current and former employees begins by claiming that company executives have consistently disrespected and mistreated their staff.

You’ve consistently expected others to change to suit your preferences, and those who didn’t agree were often ignored or dismissed. As a result, we believe around 250 to 300 workers in the UK – the majority of those affected – have now lost their jobs.

The actual number of layoffs is significantly higher than previously thought. While we didn’t have exact figures, a report from IGN indicated at least 100 people lost their jobs.

The letter states the layoffs happened because leaders didn’t value the knowledge and experience of their employees, and directly links this to the game’s unsuccessful launch.

The text then states that employees have experienced numerous problems, highlighting three specific ones in detail.

Honestly, one of the biggest problems was how little the higher-ups told us. They just weren’t communicating with the people who actually *do* the work, you know? We’d get bits and pieces of info, but it was always super vague. Then, out of nowhere, they’d drop these massive changes on us without asking for our input. It was like they expected us to just magically make it all work, which was incredibly frustrating. It felt like they didn’t value our expertise at all.

Another major issue was excessive overtime. The letter states that for four months before MindsEye launched, all employees were expected to work an extra eight hours each week.

Employees were promised 7 hours of time off for every 8 hours of overtime they worked. However, they often couldn’t use this time because executives frequently asked them to handle urgent, extra work, even after the game was released.

The letter also criticizes the way layoffs were managed, claiming that executives repeatedly created confusion and upset among employees.

Staff have been given incorrect information, received termination notices with inaccurate timelines, and were assigned to teams where their work was evaluated by inappropriate reviewers.

These errors, and similar ones, may have caused the unfair firing of many employees.

The issues at Build A Rocket Boy went far beyond what’s been reported, causing significant hardship for employees. This included burnout, worries about losing their jobs, health problems, and the disappointment of seeing a game they’d dedicated years to ultimately fail.

The group signing the statement believes CEOs should step back and let the remaining talented employees lead the company forward. They’ve also outlined a series of requests for Benzies and Gerhard to address.

Workers are asking for a public apology for how they were treated and for those who lost their jobs to receive compensation. They also want employees who have been given redundancy notices to either finish working through their notice period or receive a payment instead.

They’re requesting a clear, well-documented plan to improve working conditions, officially recognized by the IWGB. They also want a promise to collaborate with outside organizations to manage any future job losses and ensure fair treatment of workers.

The letter ends with a direct call to both co-CEOs.

Mark Gerhard and Leslie Benzies frequently describe your team as “family.” However, we ask you to reflect on whether your actions truly reflect how you would treat family.

The account vividly describes the difficult working conditions at MindsEye and sheds light on the internal issues that contributed to the game’s unsuccessful launch.

As a big fan, it’s really disheartening to hear that not only the people at Build A Rocket Boy were frustrated with how the game turned out, but also Alex Hernandez, who played the lead role! He’s publicly said he doesn’t understand why they didn’t delay the launch – it was pretty clear the game wasn’t finished, and it’s a shame they released it in that state.

Benzies wants to try and revive the game, but that’s probably not going to happen now that people have been laid off. It especially depends on whether he and Gerhard can address the concerns raised by those who signed the letter and significantly improve working conditions at the studio.

We’re optimistic about a positive outcome, but we need to see how the co-CEOs react to the open letter first.

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2025-10-10 20:10