MindsEye Developer Build a Rocket Boy Reportedly Lays Off 170 Employees - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 06 May 2026 / 1,001 Views
MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy has reportedly laid off roughly 170 employees, according to sources that spoke with Kotaku.
This would make the third round of layoffs in the past year at the studio and the sources state there are around 80 employees left.
Build a Rocket Boy has not announced the latest round of layoffs, however, several employees have announced on LinkedIn they have been let go. This includes Technical Level Designer James Tyler, Audio Designer Tom Cross, QA Analyst Gary Iain Gough, and Level Designer Leah Philpot.
"Due to the latest redundancies at BARB unfortunately my role is ending at the end of May," said Tyler.
"Unfortunately due to the recent redundancies at Build A Rocket Boy, I’m now looking for new opportunities within Sound Design and Audio," said Cross.
"Unfortunately, due to the ongoing business situation at Build A Rocket Boy Games, as of today I have been let go from my position as QA Analyst and therefore I am open to work," said Gough.
"I wanted to let you know that I've been affected by the recent layoffs at Build a Rocket Boy. It's been an incredible three years working with some incredible talent, but now it's time for me to take what I've learned and move onto new projects," said Philpot.
People on the social media team has also confirmed they have been laid.
"Just popping in to share that tomorrow (May 5th) will be my last working day with BARB," said Digital Marketing Manager George Jons-Clothier. "It has been an absolute pleasure and a genuine honor to be part of this community. You folks are some of the kindest, most welcoming, talented, and passionate people I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing and have made every day working on MindsEye feel meaningful and fun.”"
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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The game failed but from what I hear they fixed a lot of it's issues yet if the DLC is now released and IOI have pulled out, then they can't keep everyone around sadly. If the owner wants the company to still be going they need to pull back on the idea of "GTA killer" style game and make something smaller. 170 employees gone and still left with 80, the company seemed needlessly big.
I've checked the Steam reviews for the game twice in greater depth, and both times it was fully of suspicious reviews: looking AI-generated or from players that had hundreds of hours in game with zero achievements, a lot of games with all achievements unlocked but all at the same time, and otherwise suspicious libraries. For that reason alone, I really want to see the whole company gone. I only wish the employees find a better employer.
Also, the chief of the studio seems really obnoxious.
