Current and earlier Mindseye Developers have published an open letter that criticizes Build A Rocket Boy's Leadership and accuses it of misconduct and several other mistakes. The move contributes to the growing list of controversy as a result of Mindseyelaunch.
First announced in March 2023, Mindseye was appointed as an ambitious cyberpunk -action adventure that was supposed to put Build a rocket boy – a Scottish studio founded by previous Gta Franchise Lead developer Leslie Benzies – on the map. The game was released in June 2025 to Abysmal Reviews and Fan Frustrations. Build a rocket boy who reportedly began to post employees shortly thereafter.
Mindseye personnel claim abused redundancies and knit in the trade union
On October 10, Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) union published an open letter signed by almost 100 current and former Build A Rocket Buy employees, accused the company of abused dismissals and other serious mistakes surrounding surrounds Mindseyeedition to a large extent. The signers claim that the studio exposed to employees for four months compulsory crunch before launch, which requires eight hours of overtime per week for all staff. This extra work is reportedly not compensated with overtime salary, but with leave instead-in a rate of seven hours for every eight worked-and many employees have not yet taken that leave as they continue to receive requests for “high priority” work, IWGB claims.
The letter also seems to confirm previous reports that Mindseye The developer was hit by dismissals in June 2025 and estimated that between 250 and 300 people have become superfluous since then. The Union describes the handling of the dismissals themselves as “disastrous.” According to IWGB, the layoffs were characterized by error information, administrative errors and potentially incorrect redundancies – Missep who reportedly caused confusion and inconvenience among all employees. The letter further accuses studio leadership of the lack of openness and says that the staff routinely received minimal information, which was the subject of “radical changes” without consultation.
The investigators require a public apology, accurate compensation for severe personnel and a documented plan to improve internal processes, including the Union's recognition. “Barb must change”, the letter – signed by 93 current and former employees – reads. “The CEO must take a rear seat and let the skilled people who remain at the company to create the way forward.”
IWGB's demands on Mindseye developer Barb
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A public apology for this abuse of employees and proper compensation for dismissed employees;
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The Redundance Notice Option option to either work on their termination period or take payment instead of message (Pilon);
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A coordinated, meaningful and documented effort to improve conditions and processes within the company, including recognition of IWGB as a trade union;
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A commitment to use official external partners to act as any future layoffs and prevent unfair treatment.
Barb must change. CEOs must take a rear seat and let the skilled people who remain at the company to create the way forward.
Although it is very critical in tone, the letter includes no direct legal threats to building a rocket boy. It places full responsibility for the game's troubled launch on the studio's leadership, without referring to its publisher, IO Interactive. IOI recently indicated that MindseyeUnderwriting performance can end its third party's publication experiment. Barb, for its part, is reportedly planning to restart the game, but details about this alleged effort are currently scarce and the movement itself has not yet been officially confirmed.
- Published
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June 10, 2025
- ESRB
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Rating in anticipation
- Developer
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Build a rocket boy
- Publisher
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Io interactive partners a/s
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5
