Build a Rocket Boy, developer of the struggling open-world shooter MindsEye, has laid off roughly 170 of its 250 staff—its third round of redundancies in the past year—leaving around 80 employees, sources tell Kotaku. The cuts follow two prior rounds, the March 2026 closure of its French studio, and come amid poor reception to a recent Blacklist update.
In the past week, Build a Rocket Boy executed substantial layoffs at its MindsEye team. Sources familiar with the matter informed Kotaku that approximately 170 positions were eliminated, slashing the headcount to about 80. Departures were confirmed on LinkedIn by staff including Technical Level Designer James Tyler, Audio Designer Tom Cross, QA Analyst Gary Iain Gough, and Level Designer Leah Philpot. Social media team members also shared news on the MindsEye Discord, with Digital Marketing Manager George Jons-Clothier posting on May 5 that it was his final week, calling it 'an absolute pleasure and a genuine honor.'
The studio has not publicly commented and did not respond to inquiries. This continues a pattern of cuts, including a third round announced by Co-CEO Mark Gerhard in March amid allegations of 'organized espionage and corporate sabotage'—claims the studio has linked to a probe potentially heading to prosecution (see prior coverage). Gerhard reiterated sabotage concerns in a recent LinkedIn post.
The layoffs coincide with backlash to MindsEye's Blacklist update, part of efforts to revive the game (launched summer 2025 with poor reviews and low engagement) and its planned Everywhere platform. IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak, whose studio previously distributed MindsEye, noted this week: 'Those guys were working really hard and it didn’t pan out how they expected, and how we wished either.'
