Around 300 jobs at Edinburgh game developer cut after project led by GTA producer flops

An Edinburgh-based game development company has cut between 250 to 300 roles, with around 150 being made redundant in Scotland, after their inaugural project flopped.

Build a Rocket Boy (BARB) was launched in October 2018 by Leslie Benzies who was the main producer behind the Grand Theft Auto series from the third instalment to GTA V, which is the second best-selling game of all time.

The company’s first project, MindsEye, was highly anticipated and dubbed by those in the community as the “GTA killer”.

A teaser for the sci-fi action-adventure game was released at Gamescom 2022 and hype continued to grow for the next three years.

Concerns were raised when advance review codes, which is standard practice in the industry, were not issued.

In the week prior to the release, BARB’s chief legal officer and chief financial officer both resigned.

On June 10 of this year, the game was released and almost immediately declared a major flop due to its disastrous launch, technical issues, and poor reception.

Between 250 and 300 employees have been made redundant after the game flopped. Build A Rocket Boy

Between 250 and 300 roles have since been made redundant in the months following the critical disaster.

It is understood that around 150 roles have been cut in Edinburgh.

Current and ex-employees say company ‘refused to listen’

In an open letter signed by 93 current and former employees, issued by the Game Workers Branch of the Independent Workers of Great Britain, it is claimed the company’s refusal to listen resulted “in one of the worst video game launches this decade”.

They claim that in the months leading up to MindsEye’s launch, Benzies and co-CEO Mark Gerhard implemented a mandatory eight hours of overtime per week for all staff.

Time off in lieu was allegedly promised, however, this hasn’t been taken due to “high priority” work still taking place after the game’s release.

Employees say they suffered burnout, job insecurity and health issues whilst working on the game “that many of us have put years of our lives into”.

The CEOs were criticised for their “lack of transparency and communication” which often resulted in “radical changes” without input of staff.

The first-person shooter had been dubbed the "GTA Killer". — The first-person shooter had been dubbed the “GTA Killer”. Build A Rocket Boy

BARB’s redundancy process has also been slammed by both current and former employees after the company “caused confusion and distress”.

Staff say they have received misinformation, been handed dismissal notices with the wrong notice periods, and been put in the wrong teams so that their performances were scored by the wrong people.

The letter claims the process could result in the “wrongful dismissal of dozens of staff members”.

The group has called for the CEOs to issue a public apology for the mistreatment of staff as well as an effort to improve working conditions and processes within the company.

Work on BARB’s second project, a multiplayer online game with a creation system called “Everywhere”, is still ongoing, however, a release date has not been announced.

The game developer has been contacted for comment.