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ch” – a term used in the industry to describe intense periods of work – that lasted for months.
Staff were working late into the night, sometimes until the early hours of the morning, to fix bugs, implement new features, and generally improve the game.
Yet, as the launch date drew closer, it became increasingly clear to those working on it that MindsEye was not ready.
Bugs that had been reported months earlier were still present, features promised to players were missing, and the game felt incomplete.
“It was heartbreaking to see something we had poured our hearts into turn into a disaster,” says Marg. “We knew it wasn’t ready, but there was so much pressure to release it anyway.”
Ben says the “crunch” period took a toll on the mental health of many of his colleagues.
“It was relentless,” he says. “We were constantly firefighting, putting out one issue only for another one to pop up. It was never-ending.”
As soon as MindsEye was released, the negative reviews started pouring in.
Players complained of game-breaking bugs, poor performance, and missing features. Some even reported losing progress in the game due to crashes and glitches.
Despite promises from management to quickly address these issues with patches, many felt the damage had already been done.
One former employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, says they felt “betrayed” by the company.
“We knew the game wasn’t ready, but they pushed it out anyway,” they say. “It was a slap in the face to everyone who had worked so hard on it.”
As the backlash grew, Mr Benzies’ video message to staff only added fuel to the fire.
His claims of sabotage were met with derision by many, who saw them as an attempt to shift blame away from the company’s own failings.
“It was insulting,” says Ben. “To suggest that we, the ones who had poured our blood, sweat, and tears into this project, were somehow to blame for its failure – it was unbelievable.”
Despite the turmoil, some former employees say they are proud of the work they did on MindsEye.
“We may not have delivered the game we had hoped for,” says Marg, “but we worked damn hard to try and make it a reality.”
As for the future of Build a Rocket Boy, it remains uncertain. The company has not announced any upcoming projects, and many employees have left in the wake of MindsEye’s failure.
But for those who remain, there is still hope that they can learn from their mistakes and come back stronger.
“We may have stumbled,” says Ben, “but we’re not out yet.”