Imagine pouring your heart and soul into a game, only to watch it crumble under the weight of mismanagement and broken promises. That’s the harsh reality for the team behind MindsEye, the 2025 release from UK developer Build a Rocket Boy (BaRB) that’s been dubbed one of the year’s biggest disasters. With a dismal Metacritic score of 37—a stark reminder of its troubled launch—MindsEye wasn’t just a flop; it was a cautionary tale of what happens when leadership fails its team and its players. But here’s where it gets controversial: while BaRB’s leaders point to external ‘saboteurs’ as the culprits, former staff members are now speaking out, claiming the real issue lies much closer to home.
From the start, MindsEye was plagued by red flags. Negative previews, the abrupt departure of two top executives just before launch, and physical copies leaking prematurely set the stage for a chaotic debut. BaRB tried to reassure players, even expressing heartbreak over the game’s state, but the damage was already done. Players demanded refunds, and social media platforms like Reddit became dumping grounds for screenshots and videos showcasing the game’s countless bugs. Within weeks, the studio announced mass layoffs, affecting over 100 employees. And this is the part most people miss: despite attempts to salvage the game with updates, an open letter from 93 BaRB developers pointed directly at co-founders Leslie Benzies and Mark Gerhard as the root of the studio’s woes.
The drama didn’t stop there. Benzies and Gerhard doubled down on their narrative, blaming internal and external ‘saboteurs’ for the game’s failure. They even claimed evidence of a $1.1 million smear campaign orchestrated by an unnamed American company. But a recent report from GamesIndustry.Biz paints a different picture, suggesting the studio’s troubles stem from poor leadership and a refusal to listen to the very developers they hired. One former staffer recalled, ‘It was genuinely offensive that [Benzies] didn’t trust his own employees. The idea that we’d sabotage a game we’d spent countless hours on was just rude.’
Here’s the kicker: Benzies reportedly had a habit of fixating on new features, demanding they be prioritized even weeks before launch. This led to rushed development, untested additions, and a game that felt more like a broken experiment than a polished release. ‘They crushed their own talent under the yoke of appeasing a single person at the very top,’ one staffer noted. Another added, ‘He [Benzies] may have had a winning formula if he’d listened to the hundreds of talented professionals he hired.’
Now, Benzies has taken a temporary leave, with Gerhard stepping in to lead the studio. But the question remains: is it too late for BaRB? Former lead data analyst Ben Newbon doesn’t think so—not because of any potential turnaround, but because he believes the studio is beyond saving. ‘Even if they fix all the bugs, it’s still an extremely boring game,’ he said. ‘They don’t know how to run a business. They don’t know how to run a game studio.’
And this is where it gets even more contentious: Could MindsEye have been a success if not for its leadership? Or was it doomed from the start? Let’s spark a debate—do you think BaRB’s downfall is solely due to mismanagement, or were external factors truly at play? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and let’s dive into this gaming saga together.
