Nearly 100 current and former developers at Mindseye studio Build a Rocket Boy (BARB) have signed a scathing open letter, condemning the leadership for both its handling of the game and treatment of workers.
Published via the Game Workers Branch of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), the letter claims there was “longstanding disrespect and mistreatment” of staff by studio heads Leslie Benzies and Mark Gerhard. It specifically sites three major issues during development and post-release; lack of transparency and communication, unbearable levels of overtime, and disastrous handing of redundancies (with nearly 250-300 devs now out of a livelihood).
Mindseye is the first game from Build a Rocket Boy and was published by Hitman studio IO Interactive — launching earlier this year in June. It was an unequivocally disastrous launch, met with terrible reception by both critics and players alike, so much so that the actor behind the main character of Mindseye said he felt he might never work in video games again. PlayStation even approved a wave of refunds after the game’s launch.
In a meeting shortly after the game’s launch studio head Leslie Benzies, who was formerly a lead on Grand Theft Auto, claimed that Mindseye’s downfall was caused by “internal and external saboteurs” who simply wanted to see him, and the game, fail.
That same meeting announced nearly 100 employees were being laid off, and there were plans to essentially “relaunch” the game.
“We believe you have consistently mishandled the redundancy process, causing confusion and distress for all staff,” says the letter, “Employees have received misinformation, been handed dismissal notices with the wrong notice periods, and been put in the wrong teams so that their performances were scored by the wrong people. These and other errors have potentially resulted in the wrongful dismissal of dozens of staff members.”
Further, the letter states there are many issues that have caused “pain and stress for your employees,” with the job being one of “burnout, job insecurity, health issues, and the failure of a game that many of use have put our lives into.”
“Many fantastic, hard-working developers have felt used and discarded, while public statements of care have not matched the reality of working conditions,” MindsEye audio engineer Isaac Hudd said in a statement. “A pattern of poor decisions from senior management has led to a disappointing launch and ongoing challenges for both players and employees.”
The studio now faces legal action from former employees, as well as the following demands from the open letter.
- A public apology for this mistreatment of employees and proper compensation for laid-off employees;
- The option for remaining employees on redundancy notice to either work their notice period or take Payment in Lieu of Notice (PILON);
- A concerted, meaningful, and documented effort to improve conditions and processes within the company, including the acknowledgement of the IWGB as a trade union;
- A commitment to use official external partners to action any future redundancies and prevent unfair treatment.
