Several developers who worked on the title Mindseye, which was universally panned upon release, have stated that they have been laid off. This has led many to question the future of the controversial studio behind the game, Build A Rocket Boy. Mindseye was originally meant to be part of another project the developer was working on, Everywhere, billed as ‘Roblox for adults, ’ with development led by Grand Theft Auto design chief Leslie Benzies. The studio later shifted focus to the narrative-driven action game, growing to 500 staff at its peak.
Mindseye finally saw release in June 2025, being decried by players as being broken and buggy, with many declaring it the worst title of 2025. The developer followed this by saying they were “heartbroken” by the issues facing gamers, promising a series of patches and updates to fix these issues. In fairness, the studio had released some of these, though Benzies had told staff the game would bounce back and relaunch, blaming these issues on both internal and external “saboteurs,”; as part of this, CEO Mark Gerhard stated the studio was investigating “criminal activity” that occurred around launch.
This all led to massive downsizing of the company, starting last year with the studio issuing an email that the Scottish studio, now around 300 staff, was at risk of redundancy. Several rounds of layoffs followed, with terminated staff gathering this summer to protest an “all expenses paid playtest” held by the studio. The studio had attempted to rebrand Mindseye with the “Blacklisted” update to no avail. Similar attempts with additional updates and a 50% off Steam sale have failed to give the title any traction, with Steam’s 24-hour peak showing 16 players.
It is unclear just how many people have been let go, though sources close to the company have stated that the company may not be dissolved even if all staff are let go. Benzies left Rockstar over legal allegations in 2016, and that resume was able to secure more than £233 million ($313 million), even securing Hitman dev IO Interactive as publisher. As of September 30, 2025, Build A Rocket Boy revealed they had brought in £4.6 million ($6.1 million) against an operating cost of £52.1 million ($70 million), declaring a loss of £36.2 million ($48.6 million).
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