The short history of MindsEye, a game headed by former Rockstar Games veteran and Grand Theft Auto producer Leslie Benzies, has been quite a shaky one – but it all might be coming to an end now as reports of Build A Rocket Boy's closure circulate.
MindsEye launched to a very negative reception last year, standing as 2025's worst-rated game just six days after its release. It wasn't just the game itself that faced scrutiny, however.
The studio behind it – Build A Rocket Boy – and its alleged "unbearable levels of overtime" and other areas of poor management did, too… from both players and former developers alike, as there were sadly plenty of layoffs stemming from the entire debacle.
It seems the layoffs aren't over, though – and a studio closure might be following them, as anonymous sources tell outlets like Kotaku. That, and a LinkedIn post from principal talent acquisition partner and HR operations lead Dan Hawkins, which implies that Build A Rocket Boy is indeed coming to an end.
"With a very heavy heart I raise my green banner, along with the rest of my colleagues at Build a Rocket Boy," he writes.
Hawkins goes on to say he "will be seeing BARB through till the very end, helping wrap things up here in the HR department" as well – which, yeah, doesn't make it sound as though this is just another round of layoffs and layoffs only.
Hawkins isn't the only person from Build A Rocket Boy to discuss the situation, though he's the only one to imply the studio's closure in its entirety. Technical level designer Robert Meek is, too.
"Hi everyone, much like others at BARB, I find myself once again raising the green banner looking for new opportunities," the dev's own post reads. "My time at BARB, while not as long as I'd have liked, is an experience I will never forget, helping me rapidly grow as a designer and gain valuable experience that I hope will lead me into my next adventure."
And, again, he's one of very many to announce their departure from Build A Rocket Boy. Production QA analyst Cameron Deaves, senior QA analyst Elizabet Tyaneva, and release manager Michaela Emslie have all posted similarly on LinkedIn.
It's a disappointing situation all around, but I suppose it doesn't come as a huge surprise. After all, we are talking about the studio that supposedly forced monitoring software on devs as Benzies wanted to find the "saboteurs" he blamed for MindsEye's lack of success and… yikes.
Here's hoping that the devs affected by the layoffs – and potential closure of Build A Rocket Boy – are able to land on their feet.
