MindsEye studio issues statement in response to employee layoff claims

Build A Rocket Boy, the studio that developed MindsEye, has issued a statement confirming claims that employee jobs could be cut following the game's horrendous launch.

In a statement shared with Gamesindustry.biz, the studio said: "We can confirm that we have had to make the painful decision to notify our hardworking team of some internal changes at Build A Rocket Boy.

"While we are working to reassign roles for as many of those impacted by these changes as possible, sadly we are initiating a formal consultation process that may result in redundancies.

"This decision has not been made lightly and we are committed to handling this process with transparency, fairness and respect for all employees. We will provide further details to the team over the coming weeks.

"The launch of MindsEye has been a significant milestone for Build A Rocket Boy but we know that we still have a lot more to do to grow our community in the coming years.

"The challenges we've faced have only strengthened our resolve and, while we are deeply saddened by today's decision and thankful to our incredible team, this shift allows us to focus on delivering ongoing updates and performance optimisation for MindsEye, while also ensuring the long-term success of Build A Rocket Boy's future ambitions."

This comes after a report from IGN said Build A Rocket Boy sources told the publication more than 100 jobs could be cut.

The anonymous source claimed the standard 45-day consultation process has started which is triggered when an employer proposes 100 or more redundancies within a 90-day period, according to UK law.

IGN reports Build A Rocket Boy has 300 employees in the UK with 200 more around the world. Build A Rocket Boy did not specify how many jobs could be at risk in its statement.

This IGN report was reposted into the GamingLeaksAndRumours Subreddit and gamers have sympathised with those whose jobs could be under threat.

profchaos111 said: "I do feel for the employees here."

Mr_Ignorant said: "F*** me... There was a point in time I wanted to be a game designer. I'm so glad it didn't work out. I don't think I could handle this much stress from hearing about all the layoffs in the industry."

MadeByTango said: "Employees are not 'redundancies' when a product fails."

ShortBrownAndUgly said: "What a f****** shame. Game's a dud and people now lose their jobs. The circle of life in this industry."

MindsEye isthe first game from former Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies' new studio that was published by IO Interactive. It had nothing short of a disastrous launch with a current rating of 38 on MetaCritic based on 12 critic reviews and a score of 2.6 based on 427 user ratings, resulting in 'generally unfavourable' reviews across the board.

Gameplay footage and reviews posted online revealed loads of different bugs, awful enemy and NPC AI and, quite frankly, a game that just wasn't finished.

Elsewhere from indy100, check out our review in progress of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and details of a new Monster Hunter Wilds title update have been accidentally 'leaked' by Sony.

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