MindsEye controversy deepens as former staff describe years of turmoil under GTA veteran Leslie Benzies
MindsEye’s rocky launch in June has spiraled into a full-blown crisis, with multiple former employees alleging chaotic leadership and broken processes at Build A Rocket Boy. Once hyped as the next big thing from the producer who helped turn Grand Theft Auto into a global phenomenon, the studio raised more than $300 million by 2024 and grew to 448 employees across Edinburgh, Budapest, and Montpellier. But insiders say the momentum masked a project that lacked clear vision and stability.
The studio originally set its sights on Everywhere, an ambitious multiplayer RPG built around user-generated content in a futuristic open world. Over time, priorities shifted, and MindsEye—initially framed as a tie-in experience—took center stage. According to several ex-team members, that pivot exposed deeper issues. One former developer said leadership “never decided what game [they] wanted to make,” leaving the team without a coherent direction from the outset.
Ex-staff describe “knee-jerk” decision-making at the top and a culture where critical feedback was routinely ignored. Multiple sources referenced “Leslie tickets” or “Leslie bugs,” a nickname for directives from Leslie Benzies that would instantly override ongoing work, disrupt schedules, and derail carefully planned sprints. Attempts to raise concerns were reportedly brushed off in meetings, creating an environment where employees felt compelled to give everything with little support in return.
The result, according to a former audio programmer, was a relentless cycle of rapid, poorly integrated feature additions that caused regressions across teams and tanked morale. As one put it, people began “burning the candle at both ends” and questioning the point of it all.
The fallout has been severe. Between 250 and 300 employees—most in Edinburgh—were laid off earlier this month. The IWGB union’s Game Workers Branch said it would pursue legal action on behalf of staff. In a statement, Build A Rocket Boy said the redundancy process would be handled with care and transparency and acknowledged that the version of MindsEye released did not reflect the experience the community deserved. The studio added that Leslie Benzies and senior leadership take full responsibility for the game’s initial launch.
Since release, the team has shipped hotfixes and Update 4 to tackle bugs and improve gameplay. Even so, former employees argue the situation represents a wasted opportunity for Scotland’s game development scene at a time when the wider industry is already grappling with tens of thousands of job losses. The turmoil has reportedly left MindsEye’s lead actor worried about future employment, and IO Interactive is said to be pausing its third-party publishing efforts in the wake of the fiasco.
What happens next will determine whether Build A Rocket Boy can rebuild trust with players and talent alike. The studio says it is committed to learning and growing. For fans and industry watchers, the coming months will show if ongoing updates and a reset in leadership approach can turn a high-profile misfire into a long-term recovery.
