How ex-Grand Theft Auto boss’s grand imaginative and prescient turned a £200m flop

[ad_1] Tom Richardson BBC Newsbeat

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/a7ab/live/1b2465e0-ac40-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/a7ab/live/1b2465e0-ac40-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a7ab/live/1b2465e0-ac40-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/a7ab/live/1b2465e0-ac40-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/a7ab/live/1b2465e0-ac40-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a7ab/live/1b2465e0-ac40-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/a7ab/live/1b2465e0-ac40-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a7ab/live/1b2465e0-ac40-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp" loading="eager" alt="Build a Rocket Boy A cover image from the MindsEye game, showing two soldiers patrolling a vast landscape of marshes mixed with mountains and a city's skyscrapers, tinged with yellow sunset and bright blue colours." class="sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ"/> Construct a Rocket Boy In July this 12 months employees at Construct a Rocket Boy, a online game studio in Edinburgh, have been referred to as to an all-staff assembly.

Their first ever recreation, a sci-fi journey referred to as MindsEye, had been launched three weeks earlier - and it had been a complete catastrophe.

Critics and gamers referred to as it "damaged", "buggy", and "the worst recreation of 2025".

Addressing workers through video hyperlink, the corporate's boss, Leslie Benzies, assured them there was a plan to get issues again on monitor and mentioned the negativity they'd seen was "uncalled for".

Then he pivoted, alleging "inner and exterior" forces had been working to scupper the MindsEye launch.

He instructed the assembled employees - who'd been knowledgeable they confronted redundancy only a week earlier - there can be an effort to root out "saboteurs" inside the firm.

"I discover it disgusting that anybody may sit amongst us, behave like this and proceed to work right here," he mentioned, in keeping with a transcript of the assembly verified by BBC Newsbeat.

Employees who labored on the studio say they have been surprised - and never solely by the power of the language. They merely did not imagine him.

So far as they have been involved, there was no conspiracy - and the explanations for MindsEye's failure have been clear.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/cc74/live/ece22ab0-aa86-11f0-932c-b3160d756a6c.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/cc74/live/ece22ab0-aa86-11f0-932c-b3160d756a6c.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/cc74/live/ece22ab0-aa86-11f0-932c-b3160d756a6c.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/cc74/live/ece22ab0-aa86-11f0-932c-b3160d756a6c.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/cc74/live/ece22ab0-aa86-11f0-932c-b3160d756a6c.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/cc74/live/ece22ab0-aa86-11f0-932c-b3160d756a6c.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/cc74/live/ece22ab0-aa86-11f0-932c-b3160d756a6c.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/cc74/live/ece22ab0-aa86-11f0-932c-b3160d756a6c.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images A man wearing glasses and a three-piece suit with bow tie stands on-stage behind a lectern, holding an envelope in both hands. On the lectern are two microphones and a Bafta award - a golden trophy shaped like a theatrical mask." class="sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ"/> Getty Photos Leslie Benzies introduced the Finest Recreation award at 2025's Bafta Recreation Awards

Mr Benzies is well-known for his work at Rockstar Video games the place he was a senior determine on the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) action-adventure collection, and regarded by many as a key architect of its success.

He left in 2016, three years after the record-breaking launch of GTA 5, sparking a authorized row over unpaid royalties that was settled out of courtroom.

In the identical 12 months, he arrange the corporate that might change into Construct a Rocket Boy (Barb). By the top of 2024, it had grown to 448 staff.

Most have been primarily based at its principal workplace - a former on line casino in Leith, Edinburgh - however the firm additionally had studios in Budapest and within the French metropolis of Montpellier.

Former workers say salaries have been aggressive, the corporate allowed distant working, and their response to the Covid-19 pandemic was good.

With Mr Benzies on the helm, Barb attracted a number of curiosity and, in keeping with paperwork UK corporations are legally required to publish on-line, had managed to draw greater than £233m of funding by 2024.

It had additionally spent giant quantities of cash with out releasing any merchandise.

Between 2020 and 2024, the corporate posted losses totalling £202.6m, with its largest for a single 12 months - £59.1m - coming in 2023.

Barb's first mission was In every single place, described by one former worker, Jamie (not their actual title), as a multiplayer role-playing recreation (RPG) primarily based in an open-ended, futuristic metropolis.

"I assumed we had one thing fairly particular," says Jamie, who left the corporate in 2022.

To satisfy the imaginative and prescient, Jamie says, Mr Benzies requested new concepts and options be added at breakneck velocity - too quick for them to be correctly carried out.

The studio's principal focus would ultimately shift to MindsEye - a recreation initially meant to be supplied as an expertise inside In every single place.

"Leslie by no means determined what recreation he wished to make," says Jamie. "There was no coherent path".

This model of working "plagued the mission from the beginning", they are saying, and can be an indication of issues to come back.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/d9ff/live/a6cdf360-aa86-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/d9ff/live/a6cdf360-aa86-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d9ff/live/a6cdf360-aa86-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/d9ff/live/a6cdf360-aa86-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/d9ff/live/a6cdf360-aa86-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/d9ff/live/a6cdf360-aa86-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/d9ff/live/a6cdf360-aa86-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d9ff/live/a6cdf360-aa86-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Build a Rocket Boy Screenshot from Everywhere's editing tool shows various tool menus and an island in the middle of a green ocean. On the screen, arrows are visible as the user places rocks into the scene." class="sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ"/> Construct a Rocket Boy In every single place, a platform pushed by user-generated content material, was Barb's first mission

An open letter, lately signed by 93 present and former Barb staff, alleges studio administration made "radical adjustments" with out correctly consulting employees.

Former lead knowledge analyst Ben Newbon says it was widespread for workers to be caught off-guard by "knee-jerk" selections from higher administration with out correct clarification.

The letter additional alleges that management "repeatedly refused to pay attention" to its skilled workforce.

Ben, whose crew was tasked with accumulating suggestions and presenting it to administration, says there was hardly ever any response after they flagged points.

"A number of the factors that we have been hammering residence on have been simply ignored and simply by no means actioned," he says.

His former colleague, affiliate producer Margherita "Marg" Peloso, says the studio's tradition additionally discouraged people from talking out.

Marg, who makes use of gender-neutral pronouns, says their very own makes an attempt to boost considerations have been "laughed at" in conferences with bosses.

Employees additionally accuse Mr Benzies of micro-managing the studio, a course of allegedly illustrated in a video uploaded to the official MindsEye YouTube account.

It reveals the director instructing an onlooker to make a remark of a difficulty he has observed as he performs the sport.

Builders say this was a daily incidence, leading to what Ben and Marg declare have been recognized inside the studio as "Leslie tickets".

Jamie says additionally they heard them known as "Leslie bugs" or, merely, "Leslies".

Builders instructed Newsbeat these may vary from minor beauty points to directions to ditch entire missions from the sport, and there was an expectation that these can be given high precedence.

"It did not matter what else you have been doing, what else was being labored on," says Ben, "the Leslie ticket needed to be taken care of."

Jamie says the apply launched instability and prevented groups from "taking possession of their work".

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/7475/live/6967c2c0-aa87-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/7475/live/6967c2c0-aa87-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/7475/live/6967c2c0-aa87-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/7475/live/6967c2c0-aa87-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/7475/live/6967c2c0-aa87-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/7475/live/6967c2c0-aa87-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/7475/live/6967c2c0-aa87-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/7475/live/6967c2c0-aa87-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Build a Rocket Boy Screenshot from MindsEye shows a burgundy muscle car in the middle of an American-style street flanked by tall buildings. Dust billows from the vehicle's tyres, and the suspension on the driver's side sits low, suggesting a sharp corner turn." class="sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ"/> Construct a Rocket Boy Some reviewers mentioned MindsEye's driving controls have been one among its higher options

Builders say the choice to launch MindsEye in June 2025 prompted a interval of "crunch" - a video games business time period for necessary additional time.

They are saying this meant an additional eight hours of unpaid additional time per week for almost all of workers - though some staff have been excused from it.

Marg says the crunch started in mid-February and continued into Might, with employees ultimately being promised seven hours of go away per eight hours' additional time, to be taken after MindsEye's launch.

"Individuals simply felt like they have been being commanded to provide rather a lot to the corporate with out an excessive amount of in return," says Marg.

Ben alleges that some departments, equivalent to the standard assurance crew, have been significantly affected, with some workers struggling bodily and mentally on account of the "stress and stress".

Former audio programmer Isaac Hudd says "errors began piling up" throughout crunch, and says "regressions", the place one crew would repair a bug just for one other to unwittingly deliver it again to life, turned more and more widespread.

"And it does mess with you," he says. "You actually do begin to see the morale go down, the little arguments beginning to occur.

"Persons are burning the candle at each ends and beginning to assume: 'What is the level?'"

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/5566/live/33812a10-ab7d-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/5566/live/33812a10-ab7d-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5566/live/33812a10-ab7d-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/5566/live/33812a10-ab7d-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/5566/live/33812a10-ab7d-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/5566/live/33812a10-ab7d-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/5566/live/33812a10-ab7d-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5566/live/33812a10-ab7d-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Build a Rocket Boy A humanoid robot holds an assault rifle as it runs towards the viewer. A large red light in the centre of its head glows red as sparks shower down around it." class="sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ"/> Construct a Rocket Boy MindsEye's plot centres across the shady tech firm, Silva

Marg says many on the studio anticipated MindsEye to obtain a destructive reception on launch, describing the method to its launch as "everyone holding their breath".

Nonetheless, workers gathered in Barb's Edinburgh studio to rejoice MindsEye's launch on 10 June.

Marg says: "All people was ingesting champagne, simply having a very good time, which was fairly… heartwarming, I assume.

"On the similar time, it actually felt like that is the final good factor that is going to occur."

The celebrations have been short-lived.

Barb had not shared advance copies of MindsEye with reviewers, however when early impressions of the sport started to floor, the temper soured.

Gamers who purchased the sport on launch day encountered main efficiency points and reported varied bugs, together with pedestrians that appeared to stroll on air and, in a single heavily-memed instance, one character's face appeared to soften as a consequence of a graphical glitch.

Twitch streamer CohhCarnage instructed viewers he was instructed to cancel a sponsored launch day stream on the last-minute, as phrase of the sport's issues unfold.

Audio programmer Isaac says he had maintained some optimism within the run-up to the discharge, however began to lose hope pretty shortly.

"You have been simply seeing disastrous overview after disastrous overview, and pondering 'This is not gonna go effectively'," he says.

Marg says the crew spent the following two weeks engaged on "hotfixes" - small, focused updates to handle main points, till administration knowledgeable them that they have been liable to being laid off.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/f030/live/4930c500-ab7d-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/f030/live/4930c500-ab7d-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f030/live/4930c500-ab7d-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/f030/live/4930c500-ab7d-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/f030/live/4930c500-ab7d-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/f030/live/4930c500-ab7d-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/f030/live/4930c500-ab7d-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f030/live/4930c500-ab7d-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Build a Rocket Boy A drone flies towards a desert city at sunset. Large, cylindrical, glass covered skyscrapers tower over the busy streets and buildings below. In the distance another drone can be seen, hovering over the faintly futuristic metropolis." class="sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ"/> Construct a Rocket Boy MindsEye is about within the fictional Redrock Metropolis, which loosely resembles Las Vegas

This month, between 250 and 300 Barb workers misplaced their jobs, with the majority of these roles primarily based in Edinburgh, in keeping with The Impartial Staff of Nice Britain (IWGB) union's Recreation Staff Department.

The union, which put out the open letter on behalf of 93 staff, mentioned it additionally deliberate to take authorized motion towards Barb over what it referred to as "disastrous mishandling" of the redundancy course of.

Ben, who's a member of the union, says he took voluntary redundancy, however fellow members Marg and Isaac, who have been laid off, say they have been sad with how their departures have been dealt with.

In an announcement, Barb mentioned workers had "poured ardour, creativity, and arduous work into our video games and our studio", including that it was "deeply saddened" and "did not anticipate having to make redundancies after launch".

It mentioned it approached the redundancy course of with "care and transparency", assembly all of its obligations, and was "dedicated to studying and rising" from former staff' suggestions.

In response to complaints about studio management, office tradition and claims of "inner and exterior" forces working towards the studio, Barb mentioned: "Leslie and your entire senior administration crew take full accountability for the preliminary launch [of MindsEye].

"The model of the sport that was launched didn't mirror the expertise our group deserved."

It mentioned it remained dedicated to "in the end delivering MindsEye as the sport we at all times envisioned - and the one gamers are excited to play".

The assertion added that the studio had already rolled out updates to handle points, and was engaged on "enhancements" and "contemporary new content material".

The ex-workers who spoke to BBC Newsbeat say they're uncertain that MindsEye can recuperate from its launch.

They're additionally pessimistic about their very own future prospects and people of former colleagues in an business which has seen tens of hundreds of job losses over the previous three years.

Ben says the impression will likely be felt within the Scottish growth scene, too.

"It is actually unhappy to see what may have been an incredible alternative for the business up right here wasted," he says.

Regardless of the negativity round MindsEye and Barb, Isaac says, a few of his colleagues have been "extremely gifted" and "a few of the finest individuals" he is ever labored with.

Marg says they determined to talk out due to these colleagues - and within the hope one thing will change.

"Everyone knows one another, and we all know how a lot we're value," Marg says. "We have to stand collectively."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/922a/live/b1196850-aa85-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/922a/live/b1196850-aa85-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/922a/live/b1196850-aa85-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/922a/live/b1196850-aa85-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/922a/live/b1196850-aa85-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/922a/live/b1196850-aa85-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/922a/live/b1196850-aa85-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/922a/live/b1196850-aa85-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A footer logo for BBC Newsbeat. It has the BBC logo and the word Newsbeat in white over a colorful background of violet, purple and orange shapes. At the bottom a black square reading "Listen on Sounds" is visible." class="sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ"/> Hearken to Newsbeat stay at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or pay attention again right here.