Build a Rocket Boy, the studio co-founded by Mark Gerhard and Leslie Benzies, the latter of which was a long-time producer at Rockstar who worked on several Grand Theft Auto titles, has announced another round of mass layoffs after its debut project, MindsEye, was one of 2025's catastrophic disasters.
In a statement posted to the studio's LinkedIn page, Gerhard calls the layoffs "a deeply painful decision," and that "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."
That said, in the face of several reports about how Gerhard and Benzies are the true root of Build a Rocket Boy's internal issues, Gerhard continues to blame MindsEye's failings on "organized espionage and corporate sabotage." This has been a running narrative for a while now, one that even started before the game was out, and initial MindsEye's previews were largely negative.
Last month, Gerhard claimed that the company has evidence of a "coordinated campaign" to sabotage MindsEye and Build a Rocket Boy, claiming that there were saboteurs both outside of and within the studio. Gerhard reiterates that claim in today's statement, going further to say that the studio has 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 organized espionage and corporate sabotage affecting MindsEye." Gerhard adds that the issue is moving towards prosecution, so while he claims to be unable to share anything yet, presumably, once this case reaches a certain point, we should be able to see what exactly Gerhard and Build a Rocket Boy's claims are.
As we've pointed out before here at Wccftech as we've continued to cover this situation, there's a possibility that Gerhard's claims are entirely true, and there is some kind of conspiracy working against Build a Rocket Boy that caused them to release a game that was riddled with bugs and borderline broken at launch, leaving a permanent stain on the game and the studio's reputation.
If that, or some version of that and Gerhard's claims are indeed what happened, then that absolutely changes the story around MindsEye and Build a Rocket Boy. It would be a complicated and confusing explanation for how everything around MindsEye has shaken out, but it's technically still possible.
That said, the simplest answer is often the correct one, and while that complex explanation could still be the case, it seems more likely that, as multiple reports have pointed out, Gerhard and Benzies failed their teams as leaders and ignored major issues with the game and its design. It could still be corporate sabotage, but the more normal kind. The kind that involves CEOs and top-level executives simply making catastrophic mistakes that result in employees being laid off and studios being shut down.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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