MindsEye Developer Build A Rocket Boy Has Reportedly Laid Off Even More Staff
Around 170 employees were reportedly laid off. Build a Rocket Boy, the developer behind the endlessly troubled project. SpiritsEye. According to KotakuThe exact number of people affected is unclear, but the latest staff cuts bring the Scotland-based studio’s headcount down to around 80 people.
There has been no official announcement regarding the BARB layoffs at the time of writing (Engadget has reached out to the studio for comment and we will update this post if and when we receive one), but as Kotaku As noted, some former staff members confirmed their departures in recent LinkedIn posts. They include, among others, technical level designer James Tyler and audio designer Tom Cross.
BARB has gone through several rounds of layoffs over the past year after its first game. SpiritsEyeThe disastrous launch of the campaign, with the previous wave of cuts announced in early March. Shortly after, the studio separated from its partner IO Interactive and now publishes SpiritsEye exclusively. A planned crossover with IO’s Hitman series was also canceled.
BARB has always maintained that, although SpiritsEyeThe buggy state at launch naturally contributed to all the bad press, the game and the studio as a whole were also victims of internal and external “sabotage”. In a bizarre move, the studio even promised to share more information about the alleged plot in the game’s playable DLC released earlier this month.
