MindsEye Developer Parts Ways With Publisher, Claims Corporate Espionage Sabotaged Launch

Build A Rocket Boy's CEO described MindsEye as having "the worst launch in history" before adding that the real culprit, he claims, wasn't bad code or mismanagement.

BARB and IOI Partners concluded their publishing collaboration for MindsEye on March 16, 2026, with BARB assuming sole publishing responsibilities going forward. The split came nine months after the game's June 10, 2025 debut left the studio in crisis: MindsEye earned a Metacritic critic score of 43, the lowest of any reviewed game released that year, and accumulated a "Mostly Negative" rating on Steam across more than 1,700 user reviews.

CEO Mark Gerhard's explanation for that failure goes significantly further than acknowledging technical problems. Working alongside external partners and legal advisors, the studio says it uncovered "overwhelming evidence of organised espionage and corporate sabotage" that undermined the launch. Authorities in both the United States and the United Kingdom are investigating, and Gerhard has said the case is moving toward prosecution. No court filings or detailed evidentiary documents have been made public.

The plan to surface that evidence is itself unprecedented: an upcoming MindsEye update will add a mission called Blacklist, which introduces a female playable character, and Gerhard confirmed BARB intends to use it to "share some of the evidence of the sabotage with the community." The approach has drawn skepticism from parts of the industry, with critics raising concerns about deploying a commercial game as a vehicle for legal disclosure and the risk of exposing sensitive material to a general player base.

The break also cancelled a planned Hitman crossover mission, announced in June 2025, that had been intended as a marketing bridge between MindsEye and IO Interactive's flagship franchise. It was one of the few significant promotional hooks still attached to the game.

BARB's difficulties extended beyond the publisher split. Employees published an open letter accusing company founder and former Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies of mismanaging the game and bungling layoffs, and the studio confirmed additional layoffs in early 2026 while restructuring operations. Benzies' GTA V producer credit had anchored much of MindsEye's pre-launch marketing identity.

IOI Partners, which launched in 2024 as IO Interactive's publishing arm following the Hitman developer's independence from Square Enix in 2017, said it would assist with essential transitional tasks but would no longer act as publisher of record. IO Interactive's own CEO had previously indicated reluctance to pursue future third-party publishing deals following MindsEye's collapse.

The studio is now betting on self-publishing and the Blacklist mission to begin rebuilding the game's reputation. Whether Gerhard's espionage claims harden into formal legal action, or dissolve into corporate theater, will determine how much credibility BARB retains as it attempts a relaunch, and how seriously anyone takes the "evidence" when it finally appears inside the game.