Ex-BARB Employees: “Benzies Blamed Saboteurs for MindsEye’s Failure”
OPla G
24 Oct 23:00
21
1BBC spoke with several former employees of Build A Rocket Boy — data analyst Ben Newbon, audio programmer Isaac Hudd, assistant producer Margerita “Marg” Peloso, and one anonymous source — who were among those laid off earlier (in total, 250–300 out of 448 employees were cut). They shared a few details about the development of MindsEye.
Originally, MindsEye was supposed to be just a part of a larger platform game called EVERYWHERE (its website now redirects to a summer release). However, Leslie Benzies, the head of the studio, later changed his vision for the project.
Visioner was known to personally leave notes and edits that had to be implemented. These could range from small comments on visuals to demands to remove an entire mission. Such directives were internally referred to as “Leslie tickets”, “Leslie bugs”, or simply “Leslies”. They had the highest priority — no matter what you were working on, these came first.
In mid-February, crunch time began — unpaid overtime intended to prepare the game for release. It was not uncommon for one developer to fix a bug only for someone else to accidentally bring it back.
One of the few enjoyable moments for everyone at BARB was release day. The team gathered at the Edinburgh office, drank champagne, and had a good time — but not for long. Since copies hadn’t been sent to the press in advance, negative reviews and ratings started to pour in only after the official launch. It quickly became clear that the celebration was over.
In July, Benzies announced via video call that he had a plan to recover from the situation, calling the backlash “uncalled for”. He also claimed that the recent layoffs — which happened just a week earlier — were an attempt to deal with “saboteurs” inside the company who had allegedly undermined the title’s success.
Visioner was known to personally leave notes and edits that had to be implemented. These could range from small comments on visuals to demands to remove an entire mission. Such directives were internally referred to as “Leslie tickets”, “Leslie bugs”, or simply “Leslies”. They had the highest priority — no matter what you were working on, these came first.
In mid-February, crunch time began — unpaid overtime intended to prepare the game for release. It was not uncommon for one developer to fix a bug only for someone else to accidentally bring it back.
In July, Benzies announced via video call that he had a plan to recover from the situation, calling the backlash “uncalled for”. He also claimed that the recent layoffs — which happened just a week earlier — were an attempt to deal with “saboteurs” inside the company who had allegedly undermined the title’s success.
I find it disgusting that anyone could sit amongst us, behave like this and continue to work here.At the studio headquarters, few believed the boss. Most thought there was no conspiracy at all — the reasons for the game’s failure were obvious.
