Build a Rocket Boy has announced a “new phase of ongoing development” for its troubled open-world game MindsEye, marking the company’s first notable PR push since the game’s launch in June, but arriving alongside fresh controversy around the studio’s founder.
In a press release, the studio said the game had received its “most significant post-launch update yet, achieving the studio’s vision for quality and setting the stage for exciting future content updates” and would serve as “a reset for the brand and the title in 2026.” The trailer for the new update is titled “MindsEye – More Than It Seems”.
The game was poorly received on launch, with players reporting bugs and poor performance, last-minute cancellation of sponsored marketing streams, and dismal reviews. The developer laid off staff soon afterwards, but has continued to push out updates to the game with the latest being the seventh. It released a “free starter pack” trial on all platforms in November.
Mark Gerhard, CEO and CTO of Build a Rocket Boy, described the update as “a big step forward for MindsEye, and our studio” and said the developer would “deliver substantial combat and gameplay enhancements” in future updates. “New content is in development, and we’re committed to steady, meaningful progress,” he said.
The studio said it would be “revealing a new expansion that adds end-game content and enhanced world exploration” in the coming months, as well as adding a multiplayer mode to its ARCADIA platform, which adds additional missions each month.
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The timing is unfortunate, as it comes the day after studio founder and Rockstar veteran Leslie Benzies issued a formal response after being named in the Epstein files recently released by the US Justice Department. An email from an unnamed person alleged to be a Jeffrey Epstein victim accused Benzies of sexual assault, which Benzies denied in a statement provided to Kotaku.
“These allegations are false, I had a 3 months consensual relationship with this person, and I have never met Jeffrey Epstein, nor have I ever visited his island, his properties or travelled on his plane. Any suggestion otherwise is misleading,” the statement reads.
That statement comes several days after Build a Rocket Boy CEO and CTO Mark Gerhard referred to “media manipulation, espionage, sabotage, or interference targeting our organization” when demanding a YouTuber remove a video referring to Benzies, describing them as being part of a “media manipulation cabal”. Gerhard has previously claimed that pre-release criticism of the game was “financed by someone”, and previous reporting by the BBC quoted Benzies as telling staff that “internal and external” forces had worked against the game’s launch and Build a Rocket Boy would root out “saboteurs” within the company.
Benzies is not mentioned in the press release for the latest update, but a spokesperson confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that he remains with the company.
