{"id":1859302,"date":"2026-04-01T12:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1859302"},"modified":"2026-04-01T12:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:42:09","slug":"we-know-we-had-without-doubt-the-worst-launch-in-history-admits-mindseye-boss-as-he-says-studio-will-share-evidence-of-sabotage-in-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1859302","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;We know we had, without doubt, the worst launch in history&#8221; admits MindsEye boss as he says studio will share &#8220;evidence of sabotage&#8221; in-game"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/mindseye\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      MindsEye<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">&#8220;We know we had, without doubt, the worst launch in history&#8221; admits MindsEye boss as he says studio will share &#8220;evidence of sabotage&#8221; in-game<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">&#8220;Some people&#8230; deliberately tried to shape a negative narrative around the product so it didn&#8217;t get a fair chance.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/mindseye-build-a-rocket-boy-(9).jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A close-up of MindsEye's protagonist in moody lighting.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"mindseye-build-a-rocket-boy-(9).jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Build A Rocket Boy<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Matt Wales avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1521645425.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Matt Wales avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1521645425.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/matt-wales\">Matt Wales<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      News Reporter<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-04-01T12:42:09+00:00\">April 1, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-worst-launch-in-history-admits-mindseye-boss?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          12 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"1f15923b-3f2a-4e98-b438-353ad6ac6bae\" data-name=\"MindsEye\" data-follow-text=\"Follow MindsEye\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following MindsEye\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow MindsEye\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following MindsEye\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow MindsEye\" title=\"Follow MindsEye\"><br \/>\n  Follow MindsEye<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>\nMark Gerhard, CEO and CTO of developer Build A Rocket Boy, has addressed its controversial shooter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/mindseye\">MindsEye<\/a>&#8216;s rough start last year, calling it &#8220;without doubt, the worst launch in history&#8221;. That&#8217;s as he says the studio plans to share &#8220;evidence&#8221; of the &#8220;sabotage&#8221; Build A Rocket Boy bosses have repeatedly blamed for the game&#8217;s woes in a future multiplayer update.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nBuild A Rocket Boy was founded by former GTA producer Leslie Benzies in 2016, and its first game, Everywhere, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ex-gta-producer-reveals-new-game-everywhere\">announced in 2022<\/a>. Everywhere was envisaged as a user-generated content platform promising to redefine &#8220;how players connect with one another and the digital world around them&#8221;. But along the way, MindsEye &#8211; initially unveiled as a component of Everywhere &#8211; evolved into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-new-thriller-from-former-gta-producer-and-hitman-publisher-gets-release-date\">standalone &#8220;AAA&#8221; game<\/a> that eventually released last June.\n<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"MindsEye - Official Gameplay Overview Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_185sXGmiok?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_185sXGmiok\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">MindsEye &#8211; Official Gameplay Overview Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_185sXGmiok\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>\nEven before launch, CEO Mark Gerhard was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-boss-claims-games-negative-reaction-ahead-of-release-has-been-paid-for-in-concerted-effort-against-studio\">dismissing MindsEye criticism<\/a>, claiming &#8220;all the people who reacted negatively were financed by someone&#8221;, and that it didn&#8217;t &#8220;take much to guess who&#8221;. Complaints were much harder to brush off, however, when the game arrived, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-launches-with-myriad-of-glitches-and-issues-as-developer-promises-performance-update\">blighted by glitches and other issues<\/a> that Build A Rocket Boy quickly acknowledged, saying it was &#8220;working around the clock to improve&#8221;. Just weeks later, the studio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-developer-reportedly-prepping-for-layoffs-after-botched-launch\">confirmed layoffs<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-developer-build-a-rocket-boy-hit-with-layoffs-again-co-ceo-blames-espionage-and-sabotage\">further layoffs were announced earlier this year<\/a>, with Gerhard blaming MindsEye&#8217;s troubles on &#8220;organised espionage and corporate sabotage&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\nAnd now, speaking to <a href=\"https:\/\/gamesbeat.com\/why-build-a-rocket-boy-moved-to-self-publishing-for-mindseye-mark-gerhard-interview\/\">GamesBeat<\/a>, Gerhard has discussed MindsEye&#8217;s rocky start &#8211; and its future <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-launch-what-we-didnt-hope-for-says-io-interactive-ceo-as-publishing-future-in-question\">away from original publisher IO Interactive<\/a> &#8211; in more detail. &#8220;We&#8217;re very excited about this next chapter,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We know we had, without doubt, the worst launch in history. And obviously there&#8217;s many reasons for that, but we are planning to relaunch our game now that the interference has stopped.&#8221; Gerhard added MindsEye is now &#8220;being very well-reviewed&#8221; and that &#8220;sales are increasing organically, doubling almost weekly.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nDismissing claims MindsEye was one of the world&#8217;s most refunded titles, Gerhard insisted refunds were &#8220;within the norms for many games&#8221; and that suggestions otherwise were &#8220;just a negative or malicious narrative that was amplified.&#8221; It&#8217;s a topic he returned to repeatedly during the interview with GamesBeat, arguing, &#8220;Some of the negativity has been orchestrated around this&#8221;, although he did concede launch issues were &#8220;on us&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n&#8220;[We&#8217;ve listened to] feedback and continue to invest in the game,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Without doubt, it gets better month on month or update after update. But without doubt, there was a concerted effort. Some people had their hands on the scale and deliberately tried to shape a negative narrative around the product so it didn&#8217;t get a fair chance. It didn&#8217;t get to find its community. It didn&#8217;t get a chance to be iterated on, as would be typical with these things.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nAccording to Gerhard, the studio has &#8220;very strong evidence&#8221; of interference and has &#8220;identified [the] parties involved&#8221;, with the matter now said to be with US and UK authorities. &#8220;It&#8217;s&#8230; in their hands now,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;We&#8217;ll leave them to do what they do, make their arrests or any announcements in due course. I think we&#8217;re not saying anything further at this stage on that. We&#8217;ll just let the natural course of justice take its path.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\nDespite the issue now seemingly being the subject of an active investigation, Gerhard says the studio plans to use MindsEye&#8217;s forthcoming multiplayer update to &#8220;share some of the evidence of the sabotage&#8221; with the community. The update, which will supposedly introduce a new mission, Blacklist, and a new female playable character, doesn&#8217;t yet have a launch date. Beyond that, Gerhard says the team still hopes to release tools that&#8217;ll enable the MindsEye community to &#8220;make their own [content and] dream up their own creations&#8230; without being a studio or needing to program or anything.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nEurogamer gave MindsEye&#8217;s launch version <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-review\">one out of five stars when it arrived last June<\/a>, saying, &#8220;Although it shows some early promise, MindsEye is sunk by a ridiculous story, inconsistent writing, poorly designed mission scenarios, and utterly atrocious combat.&#8221; According to Gerhard, sales of the game since then have been &#8220;very modest.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>\nMark Gerhard, CEO and CTO of developer Build A Rocket Boy, has addressed its controversial shooter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/mindseye\">MindsEye<\/a>&#8216;s rough start last year, calling it &#8220;without doubt, the worst launch in history&#8221;. That&#8217;s as he says the studio plans to share &#8220;evidence&#8221; of the &#8220;sabotage&#8221; Build A Rocket Boy bosses have repeatedly blamed for the game&#8217;s woes in a future multiplayer update.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nBuild A Rocket Boy was founded by former GTA producer Leslie Benzies in 2016, and its first game, Everywhere, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ex-gta-producer-reveals-new-game-everywhere\">announced in 2022<\/a>. Everywhere was envisaged as a user-generated content platform promising to redefine &#8220;how players connect with one another and the digital world around them&#8221;. But along the way, MindsEye &#8211; initially unveiled as a component of Everywhere &#8211; evolved into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-new-thriller-from-former-gta-producer-and-hitman-publisher-gets-release-date\">standalone &#8220;AAA&#8221; game<\/a> that eventually released last June.\n<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"MindsEye - Official Gameplay Overview Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_185sXGmiok?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_185sXGmiok\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">MindsEye &#8211; Official Gameplay Overview Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_185sXGmiok\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>\nEven before launch, CEO Mark Gerhard was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-boss-claims-games-negative-reaction-ahead-of-release-has-been-paid-for-in-concerted-effort-against-studio\">dismissing MindsEye criticism<\/a>, claiming &#8220;all the people who reacted negatively were financed by someone&#8221;, and that it didn&#8217;t &#8220;take much to guess who&#8221;. Complaints were much harder to brush off, however, when the game arrived, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-launches-with-myriad-of-glitches-and-issues-as-developer-promises-performance-update\">blighted by glitches and other issues<\/a> that Build A Rocket Boy quickly acknowledged, saying it was &#8220;working around the clock to improve&#8221;. Just weeks later, the studio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-developer-reportedly-prepping-for-layoffs-after-botched-launch\">confirmed layoffs<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-developer-build-a-rocket-boy-hit-with-layoffs-again-co-ceo-blames-espionage-and-sabotage\">further layoffs were announced earlier this year<\/a>, with Gerhard blaming MindsEye&#8217;s troubles on &#8220;organised espionage and corporate sabotage&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\nAnd now, speaking to <a href=\"https:\/\/gamesbeat.com\/why-build-a-rocket-boy-moved-to-self-publishing-for-mindseye-mark-gerhard-interview\/\">GamesBeat<\/a>, Gerhard has discussed MindsEye&#8217;s rocky start &#8211; and its future <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-launch-what-we-didnt-hope-for-says-io-interactive-ceo-as-publishing-future-in-question\">away from original publisher IO Interactive<\/a> &#8211; in more detail. &#8220;We&#8217;re very excited about this next chapter,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We know we had, without doubt, the worst launch in history. And obviously there&#8217;s many reasons for that, but we are planning to relaunch our game now that the interference has stopped.&#8221; Gerhard added MindsEye is now &#8220;being very well-reviewed&#8221; and that &#8220;sales are increasing organically, doubling almost weekly.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nDismissing claims MindsEye was one of the world&#8217;s most refunded titles, Gerhard insisted refunds were &#8220;within the norms for many games&#8221; and that suggestions otherwise were &#8220;just a negative or malicious narrative that was amplified.&#8221; It&#8217;s a topic he returned to repeatedly during the interview with GamesBeat, arguing, &#8220;Some of the negativity has been orchestrated around this&#8221;, although he did concede launch issues were &#8220;on us&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n&#8220;[We&#8217;ve listened to] feedback and continue to invest in the game,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Without doubt, it gets better month on month or update after update. But without doubt, there was a concerted effort. Some people had their hands on the scale and deliberately tried to shape a negative narrative around the product so it didn&#8217;t get a fair chance. It didn&#8217;t get to find its community. It didn&#8217;t get a chance to be iterated on, as would be typical with these things.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nAccording to Gerhard, the studio has &#8220;very strong evidence&#8221; of interference and has &#8220;identified [the] parties involved&#8221;, with the matter now said to be with US and UK authorities. &#8220;It&#8217;s&#8230; in their hands now,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;We&#8217;ll leave them to do what they do, make their arrests or any announcements in due course. I think we&#8217;re not saying anything further at this stage on that. We&#8217;ll just let the natural course of justice take its path.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\nDespite the issue now seemingly being the subject of an active investigation, Gerhard says the studio plans to use MindsEye&#8217;s forthcoming multiplayer update to &#8220;share some of the evidence of the sabotage&#8221; with the community. The update, which will supposedly introduce a new mission, Blacklist, and a new female playable character, doesn&#8217;t yet have a launch date. Beyond that, Gerhard says the team still hopes to release tools that&#8217;ll enable the MindsEye community to &#8220;make their own [content and] dream up their own creations&#8230; without being a studio or needing to program or anything.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nEurogamer gave MindsEye&#8217;s launch version <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/mindseye-review\">one out of five stars when it arrived last June<\/a>, saying, &#8220;Although it shows some early promise, MindsEye is sunk by a ridiculous story, inconsistent writing, poorly designed mission scenarios, and utterly atrocious combat.&#8221; According to Gerhard, sales of the game since then have been &#8220;very modest.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News MindsEye &#8220;We know we had, without doubt, the worst launch in history&#8221; admits MindsEye boss as he says studio will share &#8220;evidence of sabotage&#8221; in-game &#8220;Some people&#8230; deliberately tried to shape a negative narrative around the product so it didn&#8217;t get a fair chance.&#8221; Image credit: Build A Rocket Boy News by Matt [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1859302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1859302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1859302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1859302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1859302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1859302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1859302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}