We all know that the gaming industry is in shambles, with several studios suffering from massive layoffs almost weekly. Among these unfortunate cases, there are times when players are shocked to see some of their favorite studios lay off staff. However, there are also cases where people are surprised to find that a studio still has people around, even after launching a questionable title. This is what is happening with Build A Rocket Boy, the studio behind MindsEye, which just got hit with a massive wave of layoffs, yet some people aren’t too surprised.
Build A Rocket Boy Loses Over 100 Staff Members
According to a report by Kotaku, the studio behind MindsEye, one of the most controversial titles of last year, has lost around 170 staff members, bringing the number of remaining employees to 80.
The odd thing here is that the studio has not made the announcement public yet, and, according to the source above, it’s the former employees who are announcing they are no longer part of Build A Rocket Boy.
This is sadly not the first time the studio has been hit with layoffs. Build A Rocket Boy also made several staff members redundant last year after the launch of MindsEye. However, during that time, the Co-CEO, Mark Gerhard, claimed sabotage was a bit part of why the game didn’t work, thus leading to the layoffs. Yet, this time, nothing of the sort has been announced.
While many would be surprised at this, especially after the launch of the Blacklisted update, which added a Hitman-like level with a similar UI and objectives, the truth is that many players saw this coming.
“I’m honestly shocked there is even a janitor still working in that building by now.“
On the other hand, some Redditors mentioned last year’s “sabotage” debacle, sarcastically suggesting this might be the case again with the recent layoffs.
“Damn, can’t believe the same company got sabotaged again!“
“How could the saboteurs have done this?“
For now, we’ll have to wait for a proper announcement from the company regarding the recent layoffs, but regardless of the game, many still think it is sad to see so many developers lose their jobs.
