MindsEye Studio Build A Rocket Boy Announces More Layoffs

Build A Rocket Boy, the Scotland-based development studio behind last year’s disastrous action-adventure game MindsEye, has once again announced further layoffs at the company. A new post from the MindsEye studio’s CEO, Mark Gerhard, says that a further number of redundancies have taken place at Build A Rocket Boy, calling it a “deeply painful decision,” before then claiming that there is overwhelming evidence of organised espionage and corporate sabotage.

With former Rockstar Games president Leslie Benzies at the helm, fans were expecting MindsEye to be a possible contender to the iconic Grand Theft Auto series. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite pan out that way. The studio’s first title quickly received negative reviews from both players and critics, with MindsEye even becoming the worst-reviewed game of 2025, according to Metacritic. While recent Steam reviews for the title are now “mostly positive,” likely due to continued support from the remaining staff at Build A Rocket Boy, MindsEye was criticized at launch for its empty world, lackluster story, and constant bugs and performance issues.

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Build A Rocket Boy Announces More Layoffs

Following the disastrous launch, Build A Rocket Boy announced layoffs at the studio, which came just days after MindsEye‘s release for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Now, nearly one year on, the studio has made a new post on LinkedIn, announcing even more redundancies. “Over the past few years, the games industry has gone through one of the most difficult periods in its history. Many talented developers across the world have been affected by layoffs and restructuring. Unfortunately, today we have to share that Build A Rocket Boy is not immune to those pressures,” CEO Mark Gerhard said.

The statement goes on to say that Build A Rocket Boy has now announced a further number of redundancies, admitting that it is a “deeply painful decision.” Gerhard acknowledges the impact that this will have on those affected, before going on to blame MindsEye‘s launch on factors beyond the studio’s control. The CEO says that the studio has been working with external partners and legal advisors over the past few months to investigate apparent criminal activity that took place around the launch of its first title. According to Gerhard, these findings have now resulted in “overwhelming evidence of organised espionage and corporate sabotage affecting MindsEye.” Further elaboration was not provided, as the CEO says the matter is moving toward prosecution, so full details cannot be publicly shared yet.

Back in October 2025, nearly 100 current and former employees released a joint letter criticizing the MindsEye studio. The open letter, which was published by the Independent Workers of Great Britain union, accused the studio of mishandling layoffs and claimed that Build A Rocket Boy subjected its employees to four months of mandatory crunch, which required an additional eight hours of overtime per week for all developers. The letter did not threaten any legal action against Build A Rocket Boy, but did make a set of demands, which included a public apology for employee mistreatment, proper compensation for those who had been affected by the layoffs, meaningful efforts to improve working conditions, and more.

Despite the constant challenges that are being thrown Build A Rocket Boy’s way, those remaining at the studio appear to be committed to improving MindsEye with continued updates. Last month, the studio announced a “new phase of development” for the title after it parted ways with publisher IO Interactive. Update 7 was then launched on all supported platforms, which introduced a brand refresh and another step forward in overall polish. According to the official patch notes for the update, it was focused on smoothing campaign flow, making objectives easier to follow, and continuing to refine AI behaviour. There has been no word on whether or not today’s layoffs will have an impact on any further updates for MindsEye.