MindsEye Developer Confirms Layoffs Amid Poor Launch

Build A Rocket Boy, the studio behind the recently released MindsEye, has confirmed it is starting a process that could lead to layoffs following the game’s launch. The Edinburgh-based developer said it has begun telling staff about “internal changes” that may result in job cuts. The company said the layoffs would help it focus on fixing MindsEye and supporting it long-term, rather than the intense development phase that led up to launch. Staff are now waiting to find out who will be affected by the cuts.

While the company hasn’t said exactly how many people might lose their jobs, sources told IGN that over 100 employees could be affected. Build A Rocket Boy currently has about 300 employees in the UK and around 200 in other countries. The 45-day consultation process that started on June 23 is required by UK law when a company plans to cut 100 or more jobs within 90 days.

“We can confirm that we have had to make the painful decision to notify our hardworking team of some internal changes at Build A Rocket Boy,” the studio said in a statement. “While we are working to reassign roles for as many of those impacted by these changes as possible, sadly we are initiating a formal consultation process that may result in redundancies.”

The news comes after MindsEye launched to poor reviews and low player numbers. The story-driven action game has a mostly negative rating on Steam, where it peaked at just 3,302 players on launch day but dropped to only 130 players in recent 24-hour periods. At the time of writing, just 52 people were playing on Steam.

MindsEye was originally meant to be part of a larger project called Everywhere, described as a Roblox for adults creation platform. The studio, led by former Grand Theft Auto designer Leslie Benzies, eventually decided to focus just on MindsEye instead.

Join Us!

Featured Video