MindsEye Team Raise the Flag of Revolt
The team behind MindsEye, which had one of the year’s most problematic launches, has finally broken its silence. Ninety-three current and former employees of the Build A Rocket Boy studio have signed an open letter to management, revealing “years of disrespect, poor communication, and excessive work pressure.” The letter reveals that hundreds of people have lost their jobs due to mass layoffs and poor management decisions.
MindsEye Team Issues Serious Accusations Against Build A Rocket Boy
According to the published open letter, 250 to 300 employees at the studio were laid off following MindsEye’s disastrous launch. The developers stated that the process was riddled with “misinformation, flawed termination procedures, and management errors.” “We warned you repeatedly, but you didn’t listen. The result was one of the worst game launches in decades,” the employees wrote.
The letter also revealed that mandatory eight hours of weekly overtime had been implemented for four months before the game’s release. However, employees were not fully compensated for this time, and many were unable to take their leave. It also emphasized that some employees were placed on the wrong teams and their performance ratings were unfairly low. “We were assigned to the wrong people, we were evaluated by the wrong people,” the team members said, arguing that unfair dismissals had occurred.
The games workers’ branch of the Independent Workers’ Union (IWGB) also supported the letter. Union President Spring Mcparlin Jones said, “Employees were systematically belittled, deceived, and ignored. Despite this, they are maintaining their solidarity and fighting for fair treatment.” Union spokesperson Scott Alsworth accused the studio leadership of “blaming their own mistakes on the employees.”
Former MindsEye employee Isaac Hudd said management disregarded employee well-being and that the failed launch was “the result of poor decisions at the top.” Another former team member, Ben Newbon, harshly criticized the studio’s culture, saying, “The months-long crunch period led to a physical and mental breakdown. Instead of taking responsibility, managers blamed employees.”
MindsEye was designed to support Build A Rocket Boy’s metaverse project, Everywhere. However, technical issues, critical backlash, and publisher IO Interactive’s withdrawal from the project plunged the studio into a major crisis. Even the game’s lead actor, Alex Hernandez, acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, saying, “I may never work in the games industry again.” Build A Rocket Boy founders Mark Gerhard and Leslie Benzies have yet to make an official statement. However, the employees’ plea is clear: “If you consider us family, then treat us like family.”
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