MindsEye devs accuse studio execs of “disastrously” mishandling redundancies and enforcing “unbearable” crunch

93 current and former Build a Rocket Boy staff have signed an open letter demanding change

Image credit: Build A Rocket Boy

Update: Build a Rocket Boy have provided RPS with the following statement:

Every one of our former team members poured passion, creativity, and hard work into our games and our studio. Parting ways with people is never easy, and we were deeply saddened to make that decision. We didn’t anticipate having to make redundancies after launch, but we approached the process with care and transparency, meeting all our obligations. We’re listening closely to feedback from former employees and are committed to learning and growing from it.
Original story continues below:

Following the inauspicious launch of MindsEye and subsequent layoffs at developers Build A Rocket Boy, 93 current and former staff at the studio have signed an open letter demanding an apology, while accusing Build A Rocket Boy’s senior leadership of having “consistently mishandled the redundancy process” and mandating “unbearable levels of overtime” around the game’s launch.

The letter calls out Build A Rocket Boy co-CEO Mark Gerhard and MindsEye director Leslie Benzies by name, and was organised by the Independent Workers of Great Britain union, who announced that the workers will also file legal claims against the studio. The current and former staff accuse the studio’s leadership of “longstanding disrespect and mistreatment” and allege that an estimated 250 to 300 workers have been let go as part of layoffs at Build a Rocket Boy so far. “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 letter reads.

It goes on to make specific accusations about a number of issues, including an alleged mishandling of layoffs. “We believe you have consistently mishandled the redundancy process, causing confusion and distress for all staff,” the letter reads. “Employees have received misinformation, been handed dismissal notices with the wrong notice periods, and been put in the wrong teams so that their performances were scored by the wrong people. These and other errors have potentially resulted in the wrongful dismissal of dozens of staff members.”

We stand in solidarity with employees and ex-employees at Build a Rocket Boy as they file legal claims through our union and publish an open letter, condemning the way in which they’ve been mistreated and discarded by the studio’s millionaire executives. https://t.co/WWm4vxKEfd pic.twitter.com/bOOHaQEakQ

— IWGB Game Workers (@IWGB_GW) October 10, 2025
Build a Rocket Boy’s execs are also accused of having enforced eight hours of mandatory overtime per week for every employee in the four months running up to Mindseye’s launch, with staff then allegedly struggling to take back time off in lieu they were granted due to requests for them to keep grinding away at “high-priority” work which continued once the game had launched. A lack of transparency and communication on the part of studio leadership is also cited in the latter.

“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,” the current and former staff wrote. They call for Build a Rocket Boy to give a public apology, give staff on redundancy notice the option to either work their notice period or take a payment in lieu of notice, commit to using “official external partners” for any future redundancies. “A concerted, meaningful, and documented effort to improve conditions and processes within the company, including the acknowledgement of the IWGB as a trade union,” rounds out that list.

I’ve reached out to Build a Rocket Boy and Mindseye publishers IO Interactive for comment.