You'll never guess what just happened again at MindsEye development studio, Build a Rocket Boy. More layoffs have hit the troubled studio as executives continue to blame "espionage and corporate sabotage" for the launch of a game some might consider the worst game they ever played in the modern era.
Prior to the launch of MindsEye, co-CEO Mark Gerhard claimed that there was a "concerted effort" to trash both the game and Build a Rocket Boy itself. Gerhard, presumably wearing the freshest of tinfoil hats, is once again making still unproven claims that the game was the victim of "organized espionage and corporate sabotage."
Gerhard's spewing of these apparent conspiracy theories came in the same statement in which he announced that more employees at Build a Rocket Boy have been laid off. Gerhard's entire statement can be read below. Note how much of his public facing statement focuses on the conspiracy theories compared to how much is dedicated to talking about the unfortunate layoffs that have taken place.
Over the past few years, the games industry has gone through one of the most difficult periods in its history. Many talented developers across the world have been affected by layoffs and restructuring. Unfortunately, today we have to share that Build A Rocket Boy is not immune to those pressures.
Today we are announcing a further number of redundancies at the studio. This is a deeply painful decision. The people leaving our team have invested enormous talent, passion and long hours into building what we believe in. Letting colleagues go is never something any leader wants to do, and I know the impact this will have on individuals, families and our wider community.
As leaders we take responsibility for the outcomes of our projects and the decisions that follow. At the same time, the launch period was affected by factors beyond normal operational challenges and a competitive environment.
Over the past months we have been working with external partners and legal advisors to investigate the criminal activity that took place around our launch. That work has taken far longer than expected, but it has now resulted in overwhelming evidence of organised espionage and corporate sabotage affecting MindsEye. Because this matter is moving toward prosecution, we cannot share the full details publicly yet.
While the investigation has progressed, the team has worked relentlessly to evolve the game and to serve our players. I am incredibly proud of the dedication and resilience our developers have shown.
However, the prolonged impact of the difficult launch means that we still had to take the brutal and heartbreaking step of reducing the size of the studio once again to ensure the long-term future of the company and the projects we continue to build.
To everyone affected: thank you. Your work and creativity helped shape this studio and we will do everything we can to support you in finding your next opportunity.
My thoughts today are first and foremost with the people leaving the team. We will also be sharing details of affected team members with communities that actively support developers during transitions, to help connect people with new opportunities.
Today we are announcing a further number of redundancies at the studio. This is a deeply painful decision. The people leaving our team have invested enormous talent, passion and long hours into building what we believe in. Letting colleagues go is never something any leader wants to do, and I know the impact this will have on individuals, families and our wider community.
As leaders we take responsibility for the outcomes of our projects and the decisions that follow. At the same time, the launch period was affected by factors beyond normal operational challenges and a competitive environment.
Over the past months we have been working with external partners and legal advisors to investigate the criminal activity that took place around our launch. That work has taken far longer than expected, but it has now resulted in overwhelming evidence of organised espionage and corporate sabotage affecting MindsEye. Because this matter is moving toward prosecution, we cannot share the full details publicly yet.
While the investigation has progressed, the team has worked relentlessly to evolve the game and to serve our players. I am incredibly proud of the dedication and resilience our developers have shown.
However, the prolonged impact of the difficult launch means that we still had to take the brutal and heartbreaking step of reducing the size of the studio once again to ensure the long-term future of the company and the projects we continue to build.
To everyone affected: thank you. Your work and creativity helped shape this studio and we will do everything we can to support you in finding your next opportunity.
My thoughts today are first and foremost with the people leaving the team. We will also be sharing details of affected team members with communities that actively support developers during transitions, to help connect people with new opportunities.
"Respectfully, the people you're casting off deserve much better than to have their layoffs announced alongside whatever this conspiracy is," as stated by Nic McConnell, a manager at Riot Games. He continues, "these are people, this is their livelihood and your post is disrespectful to their contributions."
Likewise, Brandon Sheffield of Necrosoft Games said, "it's got to be some real insult to injury to have your CEO lay you off while blaming conspiracies and corporate espionage after ordering monitoring software to be secretly installed on employee PCs." Sheffield's statement referencing how employees at Build a Rocket Boy had monitoring software installed on their PCs without their knowledge.
Still other comments have called Gerhard's remarks "delusional," "untethered from reality," and simply "incredibly rude."
This isn't the first time that Build a Rocket Boy executives blamed some mysterious saboteur for MindsEye's massive shortcomings. In July 2025 co-CEO Leslie Benzies also blamed "internal and external saboteurs." Those statements from Benzies coming after Gerhard made near identical claims prior to the game's launch. It was also prior to the game's launch when a couple of top level executives left Build a Rocket Boy.
This also isn't the first wave of layoffs to hit Build a Rocket Boy. The studio was hit with layoffs in June 2025.
