Latest news with #MindsEye
Metro
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Games Inbox: What is the next Assassin's Creed game?
The Tuesday letters page is unimpressed with how EA's handled the Need For Speed franchise, as one reader is upset MindsEye isn't on sale yet. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ Next, please I've just finished Assassin's Creed Shadows and I enjoyed it. It was bloated and unoriginal and all the usual complaints, but the action was fun and after all the complaining I liked the characters, even if I stopped paying attention a bit to the actual story. I know there's meant to be a 100 other games in development at the moment, but it made me realise I don't actually know what the next mainline one is supposed to be? I'm hoping for something set in South America, which I don't think we've even had in a spin-off, but I really don't know what they're planning. A lot of people are down on the series but apart from all the bugs in Unity I've never really been disappointed by any of them. I don't take them too seriously and don't get involved with all the Ubisoft hate, so I find they're a good game to relax with, that you know won't kick your ass. Bosley GC: The next mainline one is believed to be codenamed Hexe. Hexe means witch in German and Ubisoft had a teaser video with some Blair Witch style imagery, so it seems pretty clear the rumours about a game set in 16th century Germany are true. The rumoured release date of 2026 may be subject to change though. Slow Fallout I get the feeling that in a few years, when the Amazon show is over and forgotten, we're going to be drowning in new Fallout games, just at the point that they're not needed anymore. It's what's going to become a classic problem in the future, I think, where a company tries to jump on a bandwagon but forgets it takes more than five years to make a game nowadays, so when the game comes out it's yesterday's news. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. I'm not saying I don't want more Fallout games but to have a bunch of them all coming out in 2030 is going to be pretty weird. Like the reader said, Bethesda has mismanaged all this and they should've had a steady stream of spin-offs, if not mainline games. Now Microsoft is just going to force them to pump out as many as possible, as quickly as possible. Even if quickly is relative. Doshin Niche of a niche So, just as we all assumed, these Asus Xbox portables are just going to be an expensive novelty. Nobody's going to be buying these for their kid's birthday or anything. Not only do they cost too much but they're not consoles, they're just portable PCs. Although I imagine there's a fair percentage of people that are going to be buying one not realising that. The whole idea seems such a non-event, a niche of a niche, that will be forgotten almost as soon as they're released. Technically that's not a criticism, but if Microsoft have a plan, beyond U-turning every one of their announcements at least once, I wish they'd cut to that, instead of wasting their time with trivial stuff. Every minute they waste on these portables is another where it seems like they don't know what they're doing. Kogborn Email your comments to: gamecentral@ That's the way to do it Regarding the 'surprise' success of Elden Ring Nightreign and it being on sale on Amazon, I would say to anyone that can afford it to give the game a go. It's not even full price to start with, which I think explains a lot of its success, and it's very quick to play through a round, whether you win or lose. All these companies desperate for a live service hit should look closely at what From has done as I don't even imagine it was a very expensive game to make. A lot of it is reused assets, so they probably wouldn't have cared much if it wasn't a hit. That's the sort of attitude you've got to have, I think. Compare that to Sony banking a whole generation on such games and then spending $400 million making Concord. They did every possible thing wrong, while From just waltzed in there and is currently even beating Helldivers 2. Loops Grim reality In regard to Zeiss's email regarding how difficult a game should be. I agree if a studio have only one difficulty level for a game as their choice, but… I am a gaming veteran of 40-odd years, with a full time job and a social life, so to have a very difficult game to try to beat is sometimes nigh on impossible for me. I have been playing Black Myth: Wukong since it came out and I think that paying £50 to £70 for games with brilliant graphics that I most probably will never see the end of is slightly depressing. Gaz69 Need for better decisions I often wonder how some of these companies (and I don't even just mean games companies) have lasted as long as they have with some of the decisions they make. I'm not going to talk about Microsoft again though, but instead EA and the terrible way they've handled Need For Speed over the years and… decades, really. As you said in your article, Need For Speed used to be one of the biggest games around and now it's probably dead, maybe forever. How they never made an Underground 3 I will never know, especially as all they did make in recent years is remakes and low budget rip-offs of Fast & Furious. They never made a game anyone would be interested in, just tried to wallow in the wrong kind of nostalgia and chased trends that were already old by the time their games came out. It's impossible that people could be bored of racers. The world didn't suddenly decide that racing fast cars is boring, any more than it got tired of playing soldiers. The problem wasn't with the concept of Need For Speed but the boring, low effort, low budget games EA kept making. They really would've been better off with Burnout but that's obviously not going to happen. And the reason they're not going to give it a proper try? Because they've got Criterion and all their other studios working on Battlefield. You know, that game franchise that they keep making worse with every sequel. Sound familiar? I don't know if this is bad management or what, but I assume it is. But I also assume all the execs that got the company into this position got their company bonuses last year and probably again this year. Gorf Surprise release I must've missed a memo somewhere along the line, but I had no idea that Sony is releasing games on Switch now. It seems only family friendly ones, but everything so far seems pretty small beans. I don't know how much Everybody's Golf sells, let alone Patapon, but I'm going to guess it's not going to set the charts or Sony's bank balance alight. So why are they doing it? If they're trying to work their way up to big releases, then what are they going to be? I certainly can;'t imagine The Last Of Us on Switch 2, even Astro Bot seems a stretch in terms of what Sony would allow. Omega Switching expectations I had not realised that Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment only said 'winter' as it's release date. I feel they wouldn't have done that if there wasn't a chance it was going to be delayed and knowing how things go that suddenly makes it very likely. I wouldn't call it anything like a disaster, but the Switch 2 launch sure has been… unexpected. With all that time and money and goodwill I expected Nintendo to come out swinging but really, they've just sort of meekly stepped on stage and done the absolute minimum effort. Mario Kart World is a great game, and I love the console itself, but I expected more, in terms of games and announcements. What's the next big one after Donkey Kong? Why have so few companies, especially Nintendo's close allies in Japan, announced little or nothing so far? The Switch 2 feels like a soft launch and I can't tell whether that's on purpose, and they're really waiting for Christmas, or if this is just it and somehow that's all Nintendo could manage. I just don't get the lack of energy and excitement, which was so clear when the Switch 1 came out. I was expecting all that and more for the Switch 2 but instead it's just kind of there. Focus Inbox also-ransI was going to pick up MindsEye in the Amazon Prime Day sale but to my surprise it wasn't part of it. I don't see how giant flops like that are still full price but great games, that are very recent, like Elden Ring Nightreign are already on sale. DON GC: There are probably a number of factors, but as a multiplayer game it probably didn't sell many physical copies, so Amazon was left with a lot of unsold ones – regardless of the game being a hit overall. I wish Atlus would remake the original isometric Persona games. I tried to get into them but just couldn't. A remake that modernised them and improved the graphics would be much more interesting to me than Persona 4 again. Limpton More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: What is the hardest game on PS5? 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Time of India
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
MindsEye director Leslie Benzies blames the game's failure on saboteurs, critics label him the 'most delusional man in gaming'
AllBollywoodCelebscoopHollywoodOriginalsBinge MindsEye was among the most disastrous gaming releases of 2025. | Credit: X MindsEye has been among the most disastrous gaming launches of 2025. Developed by Build a Rocket Boy, founded by former Rockstar Games producer Leslie Benzies, the game was highly anticipated because of the pedigree behind it. The release, however, has been widely characterized as disastrous. Released in a buggy, unfinished state with serious optimization issues, MindsEye was also panned by critics for its barebones, by-the-numbers gameplay loop and an anticlimactic ending that failed to give the storyline a satisfying conclusion. The way Build a Rocket Boy executives, including Leslie Benzies, have responded to the game's poor reception has also come under scrutiny, particularly with Benzies blaming 'internal and external saboteurs' for the game's failure. In response to Benzies's comments that were reported by IGN, streamer Moist Critical called him 'the most delusional man in gaming'. Leslie Benzies is eyeing a MindsEye relaunch The source here from IGN who obtained this statement: — ben (@videotechuk_) July 3, 2025 Even as the future of Build a Rocket Boy looks more uncertain than ever following MindsEye's failure, Leslie Benzies is reportedly keen on relaunching the title and salvaging the studio's reputation. While there is a precedent for games such as Final Fantasy XIV, No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 making a comeback from their disastrous launches, there is no clear roadmap for what MindsEye's future might amount to, although the developers have started rolling out patches to address technical issues. Studio leads are being slammed for their response to criticism Comments from both Leslie Banzies, as well as co-CEO Mark Gerhard, that imply that MindsEye was deliberately sabotaged, have drawn sharp mockery and derision from critics, who accuse the studio heads of refusing to take responsibility for the state the game launched in. Gaming news YouTuber LegacyKillerHD outright accused Leslie Benzies of hypocrisy, claiming that Leslie had originally pushed back against co-CEO Mark Gerhard's conspiratorial claims that there was a 'concerted effort' to malign the game, only to start echoing them once the dismal state of MindsEye became clear. I love how Leslie Benzies prior to launch disagreed publicly with his co-ceo that "saboteurs" were responsible for the negative impressions people had of the game prior to launch and yet... here we are. Zero ownership that they made a historically bad game. Just blame game shit. — Michael (@LegacyKillaHD) July 3, 2025 Popular streamer Moist Critical was also scathing in his assessment of Leslie Benzies, claiming that he'd displaced former EA CEO John Riccitiello as the most delusional man in gaming. He proceeded to explain that he didn't consider Leslie delusional because of the poor quality of the game, but because of Leslie's seeming inability to accept any responsibility for its state. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. First Published: Jul 07, 2025, 03:31 IST Pulak Kumar is an entertainment and current events writer who got his start with bylines in Sportskeeda and Koi Moi. He's immensely passionate about understanding and analyzing the latest happenings in Hollywood, anime, gaming and pop culture. Read More 7/7/2025 3:47:2
Engadget
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
MindsEye dev warns staff about layoffs amid talk of saboteurs and 'relaunch'
Microsoft isn't the only gaming company talking about layoffs this week. MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy (BARB) notified around 300 employees that they risk losing their jobs. However, the drama doesn't end there. The studio has reportedly blamed saboteurs for its woes… again. BARB workers posted on LinkedIn this week about receiving "risk of redundancy" emails. (That followed confirmation last month that the company formally began a layoff process.) Unfortunately, layoffs are par for the course these days. As for the rest of BARB's story? That's where things get weird. IGN reported that BARB founder Leslie Benzies addressed staff in a video call this week. (He's a former Rockstar North president and GTA producer.) Benzies is said to have blamed BARB's and MindsEye 's problems on internal and external saboteurs. That echoes comments made by co-CEO Mark Gerhard ahead of MindsEye 's launch. He claimed pre-release negative feedback was "100 percent" financed by someone. Who did Gerhard blame? Well, he didn't say outright. But he seemed to hint that Rockstar was involved. "Doesn't take much to guess who," he said. (Benzies departed the GTA developer on rocky terms, legal disputes in tow.) In yesterday's call, Benzies also reportedly vowed to relaunch MindsEye . That's a tough trick to pull off. Just look at the industry's few success stories. Final Fantasy XIV is part of an established franchise that has been a gaming household name for decades. And then you have titles like No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 that were gradually updated. They both arrived with considerably more interest from the gaming world than MindsEye . The latter's appeal largely came from Benzies' involvement. Will that even carry much weight after all the drama surrounding the launch? That isn't to say MindsEye couldn't improve dramatically and find a following. The single-player action-adventure game has a noticeable GTA influence, which will appeal to many. Criticism was aimed at its bugs (fixable), well-worn storyline (greedy humans and robot armies) and gameplay (drive, shoot, repeat). But it also has impressive cinematics and a tight linear arc. A tighter, bug-free version could scratch an itch for fans of Cyberpunk and Watch Dogs. MindsEye is also published by IO Interactive, which worked on Hitman: World of Assassination for years after launch. If BARB can hustle to regain players' trust, perhaps it could at least live to fight another day. Still, MindsEye 's list of ingredients doesn't exactly scream "gamers will come back." And with around 300 fewer employees working on it, that's an even taller order.
Express Tribune
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
MindsEye developer announce layoffs after game was critically panned
Build A Rocket Boy, the developer behind MindsEye, has confirmed reports of layoffs less than a month after the troubled release of its debut title. The company, which has yet to comment further, acknowledged the staffing reductions in a statement to IGN, calling the decision a difficult one. The studio has not disclosed the exact number of employees affected by the layoffs, but reports suggest that around 100 of the company's 500 employees could be impacted. MindsEye, a futuristic, single-player narrative action game, was designed as the first entry in an expansive interconnected universe, with high expectations surrounding its release. The title was developed by Leslie Benzies, the former Rockstar Games producer known for his work on the Grand Theft Auto series. MindsEye developers Break a Rocket Boy have reportedly already began laying off over a hundred staff after a disastrous launch. This game has really been a rollercoaster to watch, a Concord level failure that'll probably result in the closure of BARB soon. What a mess. — Synth Potato🥔 (@SynthPotato) June 23, 2025 However, the launch of MindsEye was far from smooth. The game faced widespread criticism for its performance issues, glitches, and poor reviews. In addition to negative feedback from critics, sponsored streams for the game were abruptly cancelled just before they were set to go live, further denting its reputation. Despite initial optimism, including a roadmap for future content and multiplayer elements, MindsEye failed to deliver on its ambitious promises, leaving Build A Rocket Boy to manage the fallout. In its statement, Build A Rocket Boy expressed its commitment to transparency and fairness during the process and promised to explore reassigning roles for affected staff where possible. The company also stressed that it would continue working on MindsEye, despite the challenges ahead. As MindsEye navigates a difficult post-launch period, the studio faces an uphill battle. In a gaming landscape dominated by established titles like Fortnite and Roblox, new entries must contend with long-standing "forever games" that continually evolve and attract dedicated player bases. The future of MindsEye and its interconnected universe remains uncertain as Build A Rocket Boy works to recover from the initial setback.
The Verge
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
MindsEye developer undergoing layoffs less than a month after launch
Build a Rocket Boy has confirmed previous reports from IGN that it is undergoing layoffs less than a month after the tumultuous release of its first game MindsEye. The Verge reached out to Build a Rocket Boy to confirm the layoffs, but they did not respond. In a statement made to IGN, Build A Rocket Boy wrote: We can confirm that we have had to make the painful decision to notify our hardworking team of some internal changes at Build A Rocket Boy. While we are working to reassign roles for as many of those impacted by these changes as possible, sadly we are initiating a formal consultation process that may result in redundancies. This decision has not been made lightly, and we are committed to handling this process with transparency, fairness, and respect for all employees. We will provide further details to the team over the coming weeks. MindsEye is a new futuristic, single-player narrative action game. It was billed as the starting point in an epic, interconnected universe by its creator, former Rockstar Games producer Leslie Benzies, who's known for his work on the GTA series. Its release earlier this month was plagued by poor reviews, reports of major glitches, and even sponsored streams being cancelled moments before they were set to start. MindsEye was supposed to be big. Build A Rocket Boy posted an in-depth roadmap filled with lots of new content updates stretched out over the rest of the year. There were also plans to add multiplayer and open-world elements with additional hopes that the game's community would step up and provide their own labor. 'Hopefully some [players] will create compelling content we can then promote and make that part of our plans to push to other players,' Benzies said in an interview with Build a Rocket Boy has not confirmed the number of employees affected although IGN reporting suggested that around 100 workers would be impacted out of a total headcount of roughly 500. The company said in its statement it remains committed to delivering on its promises for MindsEye. But that will be exceedingly difficult in a climate where any new game with this kind of scope is fighting against forever games like Fortnite and Roblox.
