UPDATE: Build A Rocket Boy has confirmed IGN’s report that the redundancy process has begun at the studio, issuing a statement that failed to say how many staff may be affected.
The statement is published below:
We can confirm that we have had to make the painful decision to notify our hardworking team of some internal changes at Build A Rocket Boy. While we are working to reassign roles for as many of those impacted by these changes as possible, sadly we are initiating a formal consultation process that may result in redundancies. This decision has not been made lightly, and we are committed to handling this process with transparency, fairness, and respect for all employees. We will provide further details to the team over the coming weeks.
The launch of MindsEye has been a significant milestone for Build A Rocket Boy, but we know that we still have a lot more to do to grow our community in the coming years. The challenges we’ve faced have only strengthened our resolve and, while we are deeply saddened by today’s decision and thankful to our incredible team, this shift allows us to focus on delivering ongoing updates and performance optimization for MindsEye, while also ensuring the long-term success of Build A Rocket Boy’s future ambitions.
ORIGINAL STORY: Build A Rocket Boy has told staff a redundancy process has begun amid the disastrous launch of MindsEye. The cuts could affect over 100 employees, studio sources have told IGN.
One person, who asked to remain anonymous in order to protect their career, told IGN there’s no word yet on exactly how many staff are affected, but the standard 45-day consultation process starts today, June 23, which according to UK law is triggered when an employer proposes 100 or more redundancies within a 90-day period. IGN understands Build A Rocket Boy currently has around 300 UK employees, with around 200 abroad.
IGN has asked Build A Rocket Boy for comment.
Staff now face an anxious wait to find out whether they will be affected. Meanwhile, there are serious questions over whether Build A Rocket Boy will be able to fulfill its post-launch roadmap for content, including the promised multiplayer mode, on time.
Last week, Build A Rocket Boy said it was “heartbroken” over the issues players had faced with the recently released game, and promised to issue a series of patches to fix the significant performance problems, glitches, and AI behavior issues. Rollout of these patches has begun.
All the while, MindsEye’s troubled launch saw the developer cancel sponsored streams, with reports of players securing refunds, even from the normally stubborn Sony, surfacing online.
On Steam, which does not paint the whole picture of MindsEye’s current popularity, the game hit a peak concurrent player count of 3,302 on launch, but had a 24-hour peak of just 130 players. At the time of this article’s publication, 52 people were playing on Steam, where MindsEye has a ‘mostly negative’ user review rating.
Story-driven action adventure game MindsEye was initially designed to be a part of Everywhere, the ‘Roblox for adults’ creation platform led by former Grand Theft Auto design chief Leslie Benzies. Build A Rocket Boy, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, eventually switched to focus on MindsEye, but it has so-far failed to do the business for the company.
In an email to staff reviewed by IGN, co-CEO Mark Gerhard insisted the studio remained committed to MindsEye, but pointed to a shift from an intense development and launch phase to a sustainable post-launch support phase.
Gerhard had hit the headlines ahead of MindsEye’s launch for claiming there was a “concerted effort” by some to “trash the game and the studio,” suggesting people were being paid or using spam bots to post negative comments. The boss of publisher IO Interactive, which makes the Hitman games, subsequently issued a denial.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
