Build a Rocket Boy, the studio founded by former Rockstar and *GTA* series producer Leslie Benzies, appears to be shutting down.
What is happening
- Several employees have announced their departures on social media, including level designer Liam Shannon, QA analysts Elizabeth Tyaneva and Cameron Deaves, and release manager Mikaela Emsley.
- The wording suggests a studio closure rather than mere layoffs.
- One associate wrote: "I’ll be working at BARB until the very end, helping wrap things up in HR. However, I’d be very interested to hear about any opportunities—whether within the gaming industry or outside of it."
- International media outlets have confirmed the closure, though there has been no official statement.
Context
- *MindsEye* is a narrative-driven action game released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series.
- It became the lowest-rated game on Metacritic for 2025.
- Sales totaled approximately 160,000 copies.
- Updates, a free demo, and other attempts to salvage the project failed to yield results.
*MindsEye* was an ambitious project by Leslie Benzies—the man who produced the *GTA* series from the original game through *GTA V*. After leaving Rockstar in 2009, he founded Build a Rocket Boy with the aim of creating his own large-scale action game featuring a cinematic narrative. The result was the year's worst-rated game on Metacritic and, it seems, the end of the studio.
