Just when you thought MindsEye couldn’t become much more of an unmitigated disaster, fresh reports say that developer Build A Rocket Boy has just laid off roughly 170 employees.
It’s a massive number that apparently brings the studio’s total headcount down to around 80 people, according to Kotaku sources.
You know that classic The Simpsons scene where Homer attempts to jump Springfield Gorge, but fails and hits every single rock on the way down? That’s basically what’s happened with MindsEye.
This is the third round of layoffs at the company, following the open world shooter’s release back in the summer of last year.
You may recall that Build A Rocket Boy had previously shared its intentions to rework and essentially relaunch MindsEye in a bid to repair the game’s reputation.
Several updates have been deployed since, but seemingly did very, very little to restore interest in the release, which had been slammed by both reviewers and players.
Its most recent patch arrived just last week, featuring a new story mission that was supposed to signal the start of bigger plans for the game. But given that we’re now hearing about yet another round of mass layoffs, the dream seems increasingly unlikely.
And to be clear, MindsEye’s faults aren’t even the worst part of this whole mess. Leadership at Build A Rocket Boy have blamed the project’s failings on all kinds of mental stuff, like “corporate sabotage”.
What’s more, accusations of privacy violations against the company made headlines last month. Unionised employees claimed that the studio was guilty of farming their data for purposes that were never made clear.
We seriously struggle to see how there’s any light at the end of the tunnel for MindsEye, and we’re certainly not convinced that the bad news will stop here.
What do you make of this entire MindsEye debacle? Come up with your own conspiracies in the comments section below.
