Catastrophic Game Gets Unexpected Second Chance: MindsEye’s Bizarre Revival

In the wild and often unpredictable world of video games, few stories have been as bizarre and convoluted as the saga of MindsEye, one of 2025’s most spectacular failures that somehow refuses to stay buried. What began as a promising open-world shooter from Build a Rocket Boy has transformed into a cautionary tale of mismanagement, conspiracy theories, and now—against all odds—a surprising revival attempt.

From Disaster to… Something Else?

When MindsEye launched in June 2025, it crashed harder than a poorly-coded NPC into a brick wall. Player counts on Steam were microscopic, developer Build a Rocket Boy faced layoffs, and critics universally panned the game as fundamentally broken. The word “catastrophic” became almost too kind a descriptor for what many considered one of the year’s biggest flops.

But here we are, eight months later, and Build a Rocket Boy has dropped a substantial update with promises of even more content on the horizon. As the saying goes, “It makes no damn sense. Compels me, though.”

The studio claims this is their “most significant post-launch update yet,” positioning it as the realization of their original vision for quality. They’re teasing an upcoming expansion featuring “end-game content and enhanced world exploration,” plus a brand-new multiplayer mode. Studio CEO Mark Gerhard thanked the community for their feedback and promised “steady, meaningful progress” moving forward.

The Numbers Don’t Lie (But They’re Not Great Either)

While MindsEye‘s Steam reviews have taken a sharp upward turn—with recent reviews being “very positive” even as the overall rating remains “mixed”—the player base tells a different story. According to SteamDB, only 17 people are playing right now, with a peak of just 31 players in the past 24 hours. That’s not exactly the thriving community needed to support ongoing development.

The game itself remains fundamentally flawed. As one reviewer put it bluntly: “It’s not all roses, of course… at the end of the day, well, MindsEye is just not a particularly good game.”

The Conspiracy Theories That Made It Weirder

What makes this story truly fascinating isn’t just the game’s failure and attempted revival—it’s the bizarre circumstances surrounding it. In May 2025, co-CEO Mark Gerhard accused “unknown shadowy forces” of waging a negative PR campaign against the game, claiming there were “bot farms posting negative comments and dislikes.”

After the launch disaster, studio founder Leslie Benzies (yes, the former Rockstar guy) blamed “saboteurs” for many of the game’s problems and hinted at a relaunch. This prompted former developers to speak out, accusing both Gerhard and Benzies of “systemic mistreatment, mismanagement, and mishandling of the redundancy process.” They alleged employees “suffered months of crunch, resulting in some horrific mental and even physical illnesses, beyond the typical widespread burnout” and launched legal action against the studio.

The weirdness didn’t stop there. Just days ago, Gerhard threatened legal action against a YouTuber who made a video about Benzies’ name appearing in the Epstein files. Benzies has denied any wrongdoing, stating he “never met Jeffrey Epstein” and that the mention was related to “a three months consensual relationship” with another individual.

IO Interactive Bails?

Adding another layer to this mess, Insider Gaming reported on January 30 that Build a Rocket Boy was ending its publishing deal with IO Interactive. IOI declined to comment, but its name is conspicuously absent from the trailer announcing the latest update. This is particularly notable since MindsEye was the first game IOI published under its “IOI Partners” label, and the disaster was so complete that three months after launch, IOI CEO Hakan Abrak expressed doubts about ever playing publisher for other games again.

The Update: Is It Enough?

The latest patch notes reveal a mix of quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, and mission adjustments. Notable changes include:

• Missions & Design: Added extra guidance blips, improved navigation, and made various missions play “fairer” by increasing NPC health and removing unfair fail conditions
• Audio: Improved social cues in mini-games and added missing music to cinematics
• UI/UX: Made drone controls more intuitive for PC users and increased guidance blip visibility distance
• Art & Visuals: Reduced default motion blur and improved impact effects
• Bug Fixes: Addressed numerous AI, mission, audio, UI, animation, and performance issues

The most controversial change? The Free Starter Pack will be removed on February 4, 2026, making it unplayable even if already downloaded.

The Verdict

Is this update enough to save MindsEye? Probably not. The fundamental issues with the game—poor core mechanics, empty world, and lack of engaging content—aren’t addressed by quality-of-life improvements alone. With player counts in the double digits and the development team likely gutted by layoffs, the odds seem stacked against any meaningful revival.

But there’s something undeniably compelling about watching a train wreck attempt to rebuild itself in real-time. The sheer audacity of trying to resurrect what many considered a corpse, combined with the behind-the-scenes drama that makes a soap opera look tame, makes MindsEye‘s story one of the most fascinating failures in recent gaming history.

Whether this update marks the beginning of a redemption arc or just the final death rattle of a game that never should have launched remains to be seen. But one thing’s for certain: in the bizarre world of MindsEye, anything seems possible—even a second chance.

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