More than 90 individuals who contributed to this year’s highly anticipated but ultimately unsuccessful game, MindsEye, have collectively sent a powerful open letter to the company’s leadership. Their message calls for significant changes following what they describe as ‘one of the worst video game launches this decade.’
The letter reveals that between 250 and 300 staff members have lost their jobs in the wake of MindsEye’s poor performance. This failure is directly attributed to the decisions made by the company’s top executives. The former employees also strongly criticize the handling of these layoffs, suggesting that inaccurate information may have led to the ‘wrongful dismissal of dozens of staff members.’
Released through the UK game development worker union IWGB, the letter specifically targets MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy, and its key figures, founder Leslie Benzies and co-CEO Mark Gerhard. It demands a public apology for the ‘mistreatment’ of staff, along with ‘proper compensation for laid-off employees.’ Furthermore, the letter insists on immediate improvements to the layoff procedures, anticipating ‘future redundancies.’
‘For years, you have expected [employees] to adapt to your every whim, with those in disagreement being shut down or cast aside,’ the letter states plainly. ‘These layoffs happened because you repeatedly refused to listen to your workforce’s years of experience, resulting in one of the worst video game launches this decade.’
The grievances outlined in the letter highlight several critical management failures. These include ‘radical changes’ to working practices introduced with little to no explanation, causing ‘confusion and distress for all staff’ as the redundancy process began, marked by various procedural errors. Employees also report being subjected to four months of mandatory overtime leading up to MindsEye’s launch, for which they claim they have yet to be fully compensated.
‘These and many other issues,’ the letter elaborates, ‘have caused pain and stress for your employees. Our experience at the company has been one of burnout, job insecurity, health issues, and the failure of a game that many of us have put years of our lives into.’
In further communication with IGN, the IWGB shared additional testimonials from former staff. One ex-MindsEye developer lamented that Build A Rocket Boy’s ‘public statements of care have not matched the reality of working conditions’ within the company. Another described witnessing ‘mental and even physical illnesses, beyond the usual burnout’ among colleagues due to the extended periods of overtime.
‘Studio leadership have chosen not to take responsibility for the game’s failure and instead blamed saboteurs, as if individual employees or online influencers could have caused this,’ a former employee remarked. This comment references unusual statements made by Gerhard before the game’s release, where he suggested that unidentified hostile forces were behind MindsEye’s negative reception—a stance that MindsEye publisher IO Interactive later publicly disavowed. ‘The arrogance of leadership to believe they can act with impunity throughout development and the following redundancies has pushed myself and many former and continuing employees to take a stand.’
MindsEye was initially conceived as a single-player component for ‘Everywhere,’ a metaverse-style platform that now appears to be abandoned. The game itself launched to a largely negative reception and disappointing sales figures. While Build a Rocket Boy has expressed intentions to continue development and potentially relaunch the game, they recently indicated that this process would take longer than originally planned.
The open letter concludes with a series of clear demands: a public apology, fair compensation for affected staff, a policy allowing remaining employees at risk of redundancy to take payment in lieu of notice, a commitment to involve an independent third party in future layoff processes to prevent unfair treatment, and a ‘concerted, meaningful and documented effort to improve conditions and processes within the company.’
‘The treatment that workers at Build A Rocket Boy have been facing in the past 12 months has been shocking,’ stated Spring McparlinJones, IWGB Game Workers chairperson, in a statement provided to IGN. ‘They have been routinely belittled, cheated, and manipulated by the company they dedicated years of their lives to. Despite this, they were able to keep trust in each other and work together to fight for fair treatment.’