Build A Rocket Boy hit with more layoffs, Leslie Benzies' studio might be done

I saw Eurogamer's piece this morning. Another wave of layoffs at Build A Rocket Boy, the studio Leslie Benzies started after leaving Rockstar. MindsEye was their thing, and now the future is looking rough.

Benzies was a huge part of GTA for years, ran Rockstar North, produced basically every 3D era and HD era game up through V. So when he left and started his own studio, a lot of us paid attention. MindsEye had that cinematic sci-fi vibe, and some people thought it might scratch a similar itch while waiting for GTA 6. Now the studio is reportedly shutting down, or at least the future is uncertain.

The Eurogamer report doesn't go into specifics on numbers or what happens to the game. Just says another round of layoffs is sweeping through, and the studio's future is uncertain. That's rough for the devs, especially this close to the holidays and with GTA 6 around the corner. A lot of those folks probably came from Rockstar or other big studios, and now they're looking for work.

I know some people on here have been skeptical of MindsEye, said it looked like a GTA clone without the charm. But layoffs are never fun, and Benzies' track record speaks for itself. If the studio goes under, that's one less place making big budget open world stuff. The industry is brutal right now.

Not directly GTA 6 news, but it hits close to home. Benzies helped build the series we're all waiting on. Seeing his studio struggle is a reminder of how volatile game dev is, even for veterans.

I'll keep an eye on this. If Build A Rocket Boy really shuts down, I hope the team lands somewhere good. Either way, rough news for a studio with real GTA DNA.

Source: Eurogamer · Curated content.

Rough news. Benzies' mission design credits run from III through V, some of the strongest campaigns in the series. Hope those devs land somewhere stable.

Rough for the devs. Say what you want about MindsEye, but it seemed to have some odd physics quirks under the hood. Wonder where that tech ends up now.

wait so the guy who produced like half the games i'm catching up on might lose his whole studio? that's brutal. i only learned who benzies was like two months ago from a lore thread on here lol

industry seems kinda cursed rn, you leave the biggest series on the planet to do your own thing and it still eats you alive. hope the devs land ok