The fallout from MindsEye’s catastrophic launch has taken a dramatic turn. Over 90 current and former Build A Rocket Boy developers have published a scathing open letter against studio leadership, exposing systematic mistreatment, botched mass layoffs, and a leadership team that blamed external saboteurs rather than acknowledging their own failures. The Game Workers’ Branch of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain is now filing legal charges against the studio.
The Accusations Against Leadership
The open letter, signed by more than 90 staff members, accuses Build A Rocket Boy founder Leslie Benzies and co-CEO Mark Gerhard of systemic mistreatment and grossly mishandling the redundancy process that affected over 250 developers. The formerly 500-person studio slashed its workforce in half following MindsEye’s disastrous reception in June 2025.
According to the allegations, employees received incorrect dismissal notices with wrong notice periods, were placed in inappropriate teams so their performance could be scored by personnel unfamiliar with their actual work, and were given misinformation throughout the process. These administrative failures potentially resulted in wrongful dismissal of dozens of workers who deserved better treatment after dedicating years to the project.
Mandatory Crunch Before the Crash
The letter reveals that developers endured four months of mandatory overtime leading up to MindsEye’s June 2025 launch. Staff worked under what they described as unbearable conditions, crunching to meet deadlines while leadership failed to communicate effectively about the project’s actual state or the studio’s financial situation.
The timing makes the situation particularly bitter. Workers sacrificed personal time and wellbeing pushing toward launch, only to face immediate mass layoffs when the game they’d been forced to crunch on received universally negative reviews and minimal player interest. The mandatory overtime without proper compensation or acknowledgment added insult to the injury of sudden unemployment.
Leadership Blamed Saboteurs Instead of Taking Responsibility
Rather than acknowledging legitimate development problems, studio leadership made increasingly bizarre claims about MindsEye’s negative reception. Before launch, co-CEO Mark Gerhard publicly claimed that negative reactions were 100 percent financed by someone in a concerted effort to trash the game, suggesting paid bot farms were posting negative comments and dislikes.
After the launch confirmed critics’ concerns, Leslie Benzies allegedly told staff that the struggles were due to internal and external saboteurs. This explanation ignored the obvious technical issues, severe bugs, and performance problems that reviewers and players extensively documented. The PlayStation 5 Pro version struggled to maintain 30 frames per second, and the game launched riddled with glitches that made basic gameplay frustrating.
MindsEye: A Historic Disaster
MindsEye launched on June 10, 2025, as a third-person action-adventure game set in the fictional desert city of Redrock. Players control Jacob Diaz, a former soldier with a mysterious neural implant who suffers from memory loss and flashbacks. The game promised tactical combat, diverse weapons including energy cannons and nano grenades, and integration with Build A Rocket Boy’s Everywhere platform for user-generated content.
Critics and players united in declaring it the worst game of 2025. The PlayStation 5 version scored just 28 out of 100 on Metacritic, with the PC version at 37 and Xbox at 33. User scores proved even harsher at 2.5 out of 10. OpenCritic reported that only 6 percent of critics recommended the game. Reviews called it broken, boring, not ready for release, stringently dull, and a complete disaster.
The Numbers Behind the Failure
| Platform | Critic Score | Notable Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | 28/100 | Push Square gave 3/10, calling it a broken, boring mess |
| PC | 37/100 | GameSpot rated 3/10, describing it as stringent and relentlessly dull |
| Xbox Series X/S | 33/100 | IGN scored 4/10, saying it was simply not ready to be released |
| User Score | 2.5/10 | Based on 264+ reviews across platforms |
Warning Signs Before Launch
The studio’s implosion didn’t happen overnight. Just one week before MindsEye’s scheduled release, both the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer resigned from Build A Rocket Boy. These high-level departures should have signaled serious internal problems, but leadership pushed forward with the launch regardless of mounting evidence that the game wasn’t ready.
The troubled development extended beyond just technical issues. Former employee Ben Newbon stated that the arrogance of leadership thinking they could operate outside industry norms contributed to the disaster. The games industry isn’t the Wild West anymore, and treating developers poorly while mismanaging projects has real consequences both legally and reputationally.
Legal Action and Union Response
The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain isn’t just supporting the open letter. The organization is actively filing legal charges against Build A Rocket Boy for mishandled redundancies, arguing that the studio violated employment law in how it conducted the mass layoffs. The union represents workers across Build A Rocket Boy’s European offices in Edinburgh, Budapest, and Montpellier.
This legal action could set important precedents for how game studios handle layoffs, particularly after crunch periods and failed launches. The case highlights growing scrutiny of employment practices in the gaming industry, where boom-and-bust cycles often leave workers vulnerable to sudden termination despite years of dedication and mandatory overtime.
The Leslie Benzies Factor
Leslie Benzies founded Build A Rocket Boy in 2016 after departing Rockstar North, where he served as president and drove development of Grand Theft Auto titles from GTA III through GTA V. His departure from Rockstar involved legal action over profit-sharing disputes that lasted until a confidential settlement in 2019. Build A Rocket Boy raised over 110 million dollars in Series D funding in January 2024, attracting investors including RedBird Capital Partners and NetEase Games.
The studio’s first major release was supposed to leverage Benzies’ GTA pedigree to create a new action-adventure franchise. Instead, MindsEye’s failure has raised questions about whether past success guarantees future performance, especially when leadership refuses to acknowledge problems and mistreats the developers doing the actual work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is MindsEye and why did it fail?
MindsEye is a third-person action-adventure game developed by Build A Rocket Boy and released in June 2025. It failed due to severe technical issues, bugs, poor performance even on PlayStation 5 Pro, and outdated game design that critics described as boring and not ready for release.
Who is Leslie Benzies?
Leslie Benzies is a Scottish video game producer who formerly served as president of Rockstar North and led development on Grand Theft Auto titles from GTA III through GTA V. He founded Build A Rocket Boy in 2016 after leaving Rockstar following legal disputes over profit-sharing.
How many people lost their jobs after MindsEye’s failure?
Over 250 developers were laid off from Build A Rocket Boy following MindsEye’s disastrous launch, cutting the studio’s workforce in half from approximately 500 employees. The layoffs affected staff across the company’s offices in Edinburgh, Budapest, and Montpellier.
What did leadership blame for MindsEye’s poor reception?
Co-CEO Mark Gerhard claimed before launch that negative reactions were 100 percent financed in a concerted effort against the studio, suggesting paid bot farms and influencers. Leslie Benzies allegedly told staff after launch that internal and external saboteurs caused the problems rather than acknowledging development issues.
What are the legal charges against Build A Rocket Boy?
The Game Workers’ Branch of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain is filing legal charges for mishandled redundancies. The allegations include providing incorrect dismissal notices, wrong notice periods, placing employees in inappropriate teams for performance scoring, and giving misinformation that resulted in potential wrongful dismissals.
Did developers have to crunch before MindsEye’s launch?
Yes, according to the open letter signed by over 90 staff members, developers were forced to work mandatory overtime for four months leading up to the June 2025 launch. They endured what they described as unbearable conditions only to face mass layoffs immediately after the game’s poor reception.
What was MindsEye’s Metacritic score?
MindsEye became 2025’s worst-rated game with Metacritic scores of 28 out of 100 on PlayStation 5, 37 on PC, and 33 on Xbox Series X/S. The user score was even lower at 2.5 out of 10, and OpenCritic reported only 6 percent of critics recommended the game.
What This Means for the Industry
The MindsEye disaster represents more than just one failed game. It highlights ongoing problems in the gaming industry where workers face mandatory crunch, poor communication from leadership, and sudden layoffs when projects underperform. The willingness of over 90 developers to publicly sign an open letter against their employer signals growing frustration with these practices and increased worker solidarity through union organizing. Whether this case results in meaningful accountability for Build A Rocket Boy’s leadership could influence how other studios treat their development teams during troubled projects and necessary workforce reductions.