Build A Rocket Boy has informed employees that a redundancy process is underway following the troubled launch of MindsEye. Studio sources have told IGN that the job cuts could impact more than 100 staff members.
One individual, who requested anonymity to protect their professional standing, told IGN that the exact number of affected employees is not yet confirmed. However, the standard 45-day consultation period begins today, June 23. Under UK law, this process is initiated when an employer proposes 100 or more redundancies within a 90-day period. IGN understands that Build A Rocket Boy currently employs approximately 300 people in the UK, with an additional 200 staff based overseas.
IGN has reached out to Build A Rocket Boy for comment.
Employees now face an uncertain wait to learn if their positions are at risk. Meanwhile, serious questions have emerged about Build A Rocket Boy's ability to deliver on its post-launch content roadmap, including the promised multiplayer mode, according to schedule.
Last week, Build A Rocket Boy expressed being "heartbroken" over the problems players encountered with the recently released game, and committed to releasing a series of patches to address significant performance issues, glitches, and AI behavior problems. The rollout of these fixes has already commenced.
Throughout this period, MindsEye's problematic launch led the developer to cancel sponsored streams, with reports emerging of players successfully obtaining refunds—even from typically inflexible Sony.
On Steam, which provides only a partial view of MindsEye's current popularity, the game reached a peak concurrent player count of 3,302 at launch but recorded a 24-hour peak of just 130 players. At the time of writing, 52 people were playing on Steam, with the game receiving a 'mostly negative' user review rating.
MindsEye was originally part of Everywhere, a game creation platform described as 'Roblox for adults' led by former Grand Theft Auto design chief Leslie Benzies. Edinburgh-based Build A Rocket Boy eventually shifted focus to MindsEye, its story-driven action-adventure game, but the title has so far failed to deliver commercial success for the company.
In an email to staff reviewed by IGN, co-CEO Mark Gerhard affirmed the studio's ongoing commitment to MindsEye while noting the transition from an intensive development and launch phase to a sustainable post-launch support period.
Prior to MindsEye's release, Gerhard made headlines by claiming there was a "concerted effort" by some parties to "trash the game and the studio," suggesting that individuals were either being paid or using spam bots to post negative comments. The CEO of publisher IO Interactive, known for the Hitman franchise, subsequently issued a denial of these allegations.
