Build A Rocket Boy studio appears to close as staff depart after troubled MindsEye launch

Build A Rocket Boy, the studio behind the poorly received action-adventure game MindsEye, is reportedly ceasing operations as staff announce they are leaving. Talent acquisition partner Dan Hawkins posted on LinkedIn that he is “open to work” and will stay on to help close out HR matters, implying a full staff exodus. MindsEye’s launch in June 2025 was marred by bugs, leading PlayStation to issue refunds and triggering an initial round of layoffs.

Founder Leslie Benzies later suggested sabotage contributed to the failure, and a spring expansion that hinted at a conspiracy delivered only a generic mission. Subsequent attempts to add multiplayer and a Rocket League-style soccer mode this summer did not improve the game’s fortunes. After cutting ties with publisher IOI Partners in March, further layoffs followed, and the IWGB Game Workers Union reported that the studio installed Teramind surveillance software on employees’ devices without consent.