The developers of the ill-fated action MindsEye signed an open letter to developer Build A Rocket Boy's executive management, citing “longstanding disrespect and mistreatment” of staff.
The letter was signed by 93 current and former Build A Rocket Boy employees, as well as the Game Workers branch of the UK Independent Workers Union.
After a disastrous launch earlier this year The studio has confirmed that the downsizing process has begun.. In the open letter, employees claim that approximately 250-300 of the company's workers have now lost their livelihoods.
“These terminations occurred because you repeatedly refused to listen to the decades of experience of your employees, resulting in the launch of one of the worst video games of the last decade,” the letter said.
Complaints from employees include, among other things, a lack of transparent communication, “unbearable” levels of overtime and “catastrophic handling of layoffs.”
“Information was sparse and vague, and you often made sweeping changes to the way we operated with little or no input from those affected,” the letter said.
Four months before launch, mandatory eight-hour overtime was introduced for every employee. This time was given back in time at a rate of seven hours for every eight worked, but due to “constant requests for additional 'high priority' work” many employees were unable to claim it back.
“We believe that you have consistently mishandled the termination process, causing confusion and anxiety among all staff,” the letter said. “Employees were given misinformation, given termination notices with incorrect notice periods, and placed on the wrong teams so that their performance was evaluated by the wrong people. These and other errors could potentially lead to the wrongful termination of dozens of employees.”
He continues, “Our experiences at the company have been one of burnout, job insecurity, health issues, and the failure of a game that many of us have invested years of our lives into. BARB needs to change. Managers need to step back and let the qualified people who remain with the company lead the way forward.”
The employees made the following demands:
- A public apology for employee mistreatment and proper compensation for fired employees.
- An opportunity for remaining employees who receive notice of redundancy to either serve the notice period or receive payment in lieu of notice.
- Concerted, meaningful and documented efforts to improve conditions and processes within the company, including recognition of the IWGB as a trade union.
- Commitment to use formal external partners to deal with any future redundancies and prevent unfair treatment.
The letter reads: “Mark Gerhard and Leslie Benzies, you often refer to your employees as “family.” But we ask you to consider: Do you really feel this way about your own?”
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“The treatment that Build A Rocket Boy workers have faced over the past 12 months has been shocking,” IWGB Game Workers chairman Spring McParlin Jones said. “They were regularly humiliated, deceived and manipulated by the company to which they had dedicated years of their lives. Despite this, they were able to maintain trust in each other and work together to fight for fair treatment.”
Scott Alsworth, IWGB Game Workers communications officer, said: “What we saw at Build A Rocket Boy is the continued normalization of millionaire bosses scapegoating workers for their own mismanagement and profiteering. The dire financial situation the studio currently finds itself in is not the work of outside forces or some fifth column of angry union activists; it is the unequivocal result of poor leadership, high-level incompetence and outright contempt. always lies with those who bear responsibility.”
Former BARB employee Isaac Hudd said the studio had “little regard for the well-being of its employees” and the disappointing launch was due to “poor decisions by senior management.”
Ben Newbon, another former employee, added: “The callousness shown by management towards the staff at Build A Rocket Boy is truly appalling. Even before the disastrous launch of MindsEye, employees had been suffering from months of crisis, leading to some terrible mental and even physical illnesses, on top of the typical widespread burnout. Studio management chose not to take responsibility for the game's failure and instead blamed saboteurs, as if it could have been caused by individual employees or online influencers. The arrogance of management who believed they could act with impunity throughout the development process and subsequent layoffs pushed me and many former and current employees to take a stand.”
Newbon's comments refer to co-CEO Mark Gerhardt approving they paid for the negative reaction to the game in a “joint effort” against the studio.
MindsEye was the debut game from Build A Rocket Boy, intended to kickstart the creation of a custom Everywhere metaverse.
However it was plagued by technical problems since its launch and has been critically criticized. Two executives left the studio just a week before the game's debut.
Since its release, the studio has promised performance improvements. And yet the publisher IO Interactive distanced himself from the project, and CEO Hakan Abrak stated that the company's future as a publisher is now in doubt.
Main Actor Alex Hernandez fears he'll never work in games again after the game's devastating reception.
Eurogamer has contacted Build A Rocket Boy for comment on the open letter.
