Union members announce legal action against Build A Rocket Boy over layoffs

An open letter attributed to “93 employees and former employees” of Build A Rocket Boy accuses studio management of “a long history of disrespect and mistreatment of your employees.” The open letter comes alongside news that members of the Game Workers branch of the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) have launched legal action over the company's mishandling of redundancies.

An open letter addressed to the executive management of Build A Rocket Boy can be found on the website IWGB website — lists a number of problems at the firm, including a “lack of transparency and communication,” “unbearable levels of overtime,” and “catastrophic handling of layoffs.”

A press release accompanying the letter states that members of the IWGB's Gaming Workers Branch “are filing multiple lawsuits against BARB alleging a failure to provide fair consultation before layoffs, as well as numerous instances of unfair dismissal.”

A spokesman for the IWGB union said they were unable to provide specific details of the lawsuit at this time. GamesIndustry.biz has contacted Build A Rocket Boy for comment on the allegations.

MindsEye | Image credit: Build a Rocket Boy

Build A Rocket Boy – which launched MindsEye on June 10 and received critical acclaim, leaving it with a Metacritic score only 37 on PCconfirmed at the end of June that these were layoffs. A report later claimed that about 300 employees were notified of the “risk of dismissal.”

A letter to management at Build A Rocket Boy said the layoffs occurred “because you have repeatedly refused to listen to the decades of experience of your employees, resulting in the launch of one of the worst video games of this decade.”

The open letter goes on to accuse studio management of imposing “mandatory eight hours of overtime per week on each individual employee” in the four months leading up to the release of MindsEye. It notes that leave was instead granted at a rate of seven hours back for every eight hours worked, but adds that “many have still not been able to take this leave due to your continued requests for additional 'high priority' work even after launch.”

He also accuses Build A Rocket Boy management of mishandling the layoff process, saying: “Employees were misinformed, given layoff notices with incorrect notice periods, and were placed on the wrong teams so their performance was evaluated by the wrong people. These and other errors potentially led to the wrongful termination of dozens of employees.”

The letter concludes: “Our experiences with 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 letter's demands include a public apology from studio management; the opportunity for remaining employees who receive notice of redundancy to either serve the notice period or receive payment in lieu of notice; concerted efforts to improve company conditions and recognition of the IWGB; and a commitment to use formal external partners to handle any future layoffs.

MindsEye | Image credit: Build a Rocket Boy

IWGB union spokesman Scott Allsworth said the 93 signatories of the letter chose to remain anonymous out of fear of repercussions from Build A Rocket Boy, as well as fear of anti-union discrimination when seeking other opportunities in the gaming sector. However, two former employees were named in a press release accompanying the open letter.

Audio engineer Isaac Hudd said: “In my experience, Build A Rocket Boy has little regard for the well-being of its employees. Many fantastic, hard-working developers felt used and rejected, while public statements of caring did not match the actual working conditions.

“A succession of poor decisions by senior management has led to a disappointing launch and ongoing problems for both players and staff. Having supported many of my colleagues during the recent redundancy process, I have seen how harmful such practices can be. I will continue to speak out until this industry treats its people with the respect they deserve.”

“The studio management chose not to take responsibility for the failure of the game”

Ben Newbon

Another former Build A Rocket Boy employee, Ben Newbon, said: “The callousness shown by management towards Build A Rocket Boy staff 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 development and subsequent layoffs pushed me and many former and current employees to take a stand.”

Spring McParlinJones, chairman of the gaming workers' union IWGB (which also represents newly created trade union ZA/UM), provided the following statement: “The treatment that Build A Rocket Boy workers have faced over the past twelve months has been shocking. 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.

“It's scary to think that 10 years ago, other managers like Leslie Benzies and Mark Gerhard could treat their employees this way and face no consequences. I am proud to say that this is no longer the case. Through the union, these workers were able to force BARB management to respect their rights. Let this serve as a warning to other executives like Mark and Leslie: the gaming industry is no longer the Wild West. You can't pretend that labor laws don't apply to your company, because if you do, the union will be there to stop you.”

Leslie Benzies | Image credit: Austin Hargrave

Build A Rocket Boy was founded in 2018 by Leslie Benzies, the former studio head of Rockstar North who worked on the studio's biggest releases before leaving in 2016 following the launch of Grand Theft Auto 5. MindsEye was Build A Rocket Boy's debut game and was planned as the first game in expanding universe. IN interview with GamesIndustry.biz back in May, Benzies described it as “being in the middle of our story. So we'll go back 10,000 years and then move forward a certain amount of time. It's an important piece of the puzzle that will keep players asking questions about what the bigger story is.”

The studio had planned a series of post-launch updates, including the addition of multiplayer and the reintroduction of the previously announced UGC platform Everywhere, but so far has only released a series of performance-focused patches and a few additional missions.

IN interview With GamesIndustry.biz In August, McParlinJones criticized working conditions in the gaming sector. “You can ask anyone in the industry and they will agree that the industry in its current form is not sustainable,” McParlinJones said.

“With waves of layoffs and people being overworked, everyone agrees there is a systemic problem. And no one seems to have a solution.”

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