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EXCLUSIVE – Build a Rocket Boy to End Publishing Partnership With IO Interactive on MindsEye

MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy will soon announce that it will part ways with its publishing partner IO Interactive.

insider-gaming.com

According to sources close to the impending news, the decision is driven by Build a Rocket Boy's desire to bring its publishing in-house and gain more control over its future. That includes faster decision-making, simpler communication, and greater control over the player experience.

As part of the change, it's said that the upcoming MindsEye x Hitman crossover, which was announced during 2025's Summer Game Fest, will no longer be taking place. Instead, Build a Rocket Boy will continue focusing on more fixes and content updates to build out MindsEye.

It's understood that the decision to part ways is Build a Rocket Boy's, rather than IO Interactive's.

Build a Rocket Boy remained mainly silent following the game's release, instead focusing on trying to fix and improve the game. Co-CEO Leslie Benzies reportedly told staff on a call one month following the game's release that 300 developers were at risk of redundancy, saying the "studio and game's struggles" were due to "internal and external saboteurs".

 

[Hadoukens]

saying the "studio and game's struggles" were due to "internal and external saboteurs".

u wot m8?

 

[xrnzaaas]

I don't understand how the studio is still alive months after the release of the game. The money from sold copies isn't coming and no one's going to fund their next project, seeing the catastrophe they delivered and how fast they're to blame other parties for their mistakes.

 

[SJRB]

Everyone who disliked or didn't buy the game at all is a saboteur. They're all out to destroy this fine studio.

 

[StueyDuck]

I don't understand how the studio is still alive months after the release of the game. The money from sold copies isn't coming and no one's going to fund their next project, seeing the catastrophe they delivered and how fast they're to blame other parties for their mistakes.

Benzies has trucks of money and he probably raised a shit ton of capital off the back of being "the Rockstar guy"

 

[Germuso]

 

[LordCBH]

And nothing of value was lost.

 

[adamsapple]

The co CEO is issuing online cease and desist to people ...

 

[Gitaroo]

I hope they didn't hurt IO interactive too badly.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I don't understand how the studio is still alive months after the release of the game. The money from sold copies isn't coming and no one's going to fund their next project, seeing the catastrophe they delivered and how fast they're to blame other parties for their mistakes.

Tech and gaming always have tons of money. And any investors or big publishers hoping to cash in on the next Fortnite somehow always have bottomless pockets.

Given how so many games bomb and how the stock markets generally go up, you'd think with so much money they just park it in some mutual funds and get +10% profits every year. You dont even have to worry about offering a pot of money, 5 years to make a game and whether or not the game is even good or finished to launch. Just take all that money and guarantee yourselves some modest gains.

But the temptation for some to turn a $100M budget into $500M or $1B 5 years later with a smash hit game will always be a more tempting cash grab than steadily turning $100M into $150-200M over 5 years. So it's worth the gamble.

 

[Generic]

Should've been a GaaS. It's hard to profit with singleplayer-only games.