After numerous rounds of layoffs, MindsEye studio Build a Rocket Boy appears to be closing down for good.
MindsEye was released in June 2025, landing a 39 Metacritic score on PC and a 29 on PS5, making it the worst-rated game of last year.
Since then the studio has been embroiled in numerous controversies, from a number of layoffs totalling over 400 staff, to co-CEO Mark Gerhard suggesting that one of the main reasons behind MindsEye’s commercial failure was “criminal activity” including “organised espionage and corporate sabotage”.
The studio even released a DLC mission for the game called Blacklisted, which it said would “share some of the evidence of the sabotage with the community”, but its release seemingly didn’t have much impact on public opinion or the fate of the game.
Now it would appear that a further round of layoffs is taking place, but this time the actual company appears to be closing down too.
Members of the ResetEra forum spotted that Dan Hawkins – a principal talent acquisition partner and HR operations manager at Build a Rocket Boy – posted on LinkedIn that he would be staying with Build a Rocket Boy until “the very end”, but was also looking for work, implying that the company is closing soon.
“With a very heavy heart I raise my green banner, along with the rest of my colleagues at Build a Rocket Boy,” Hawkins wrote. “I am ‘Open to Work’ actively looking for a new adventure. After speaking with hundreds of people from our industry affected in this way over the past few years, I finally experience it myself.
“Just shy of 5 years here at BARB and one hell of a ride! Being the first hire into our internal recruitment team, taking the studio from 200 to 550 in a short period of time. It has been an honour to work alongside so many talented people, far too many to mention!
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