Build A Rocket Boy, the studio behind MindsEye, is facing fresh turmoil after a group of employees unionized and moved toward legal action over alleged workplace surveillance. Workers claim the company installed monitoring tools on staff systems without their knowledge or permission, escalating an already tense period for the studio following a heavily criticized release and subsequent layoffs.
At the center of the dispute is software employees say was deployed to track day-to-day activity in extreme detail. According to the IWGB Game Workers Union, the tool allegedly logged keystrokes, recorded on-screen activity, and captured conversations through microphones. Some workers also claim the monitoring extended beyond the office, with allegations that the software recorded them at home.
The union says the software was removed from employee devices in March after around 40 staff members raised a collective grievance. However, the dispute hasn’t cooled. A key issue now, according to the workers and their representatives, is that the company’s leadership has not disclosed what data was collected, where it was stored, or why the monitoring software was installed in the first place.
In its comments, the union argues that this kind of surveillance goes far beyond any reasonable boundary for productivity tracking or internal security. It alleges the approach violated data protection rules and undermined basic workplace dignity, particularly if recording occurred without consent and in private home environments.
The legal pressure on Build A Rocket Boy doesn’t stop there. The union also filed a separate claim dated April 12 tied to last summer’s redundancy process that reportedly led to 300 job losses. That claim includes allegations such as failure to conduct proper collective consultations, along with claims of unlawful blacklisting and worker detriment. The union has suggested that, if successful, the case could carry a major financial impact for the company.
One union member, described as a lead cinematic animator at the studio, criticized the internal environment in stark terms, calling it a culture defined by secrecy and micromanagement and warning it’s among the worst they’ve experienced across two decades in the games industry.
As the situation develops, Build A Rocket Boy is now dealing with two high-stakes fronts at once: serious questions about employee privacy and data handling, and renewed scrutiny of how prior layoffs were managed. For a studio already navigating reputational damage, the outcome of these disputes could prove pivotal for its future and for how game industry workplaces handle monitoring, consent, and transparency going forward.
