MindsEye is a bit of a mess. The first proper effort of Build a Rocket Boy, a studio helmed by former GTA developer Leslie Benzies, the game fell flat on its face mostly because it was just wasn’t great. The studio hasn’t given up on it though, in part because it was apparently all because of saboteurs.
Back in July of last year, Benzies went off on one, stating to IGN that there had been saboteurs scuffing the game’s success. This was then echoed in March of this year, wherein Benzies claimed the studio had “overwhelming evidence of organized espionage and corporate sabotage.”
I won’t sit here and naysay all of that, but I do have to wonder out loud how corporate espionage produces a game with pretty mid combat and an unappealing story—I mean, MindsEye’s debut trailer was set to Mad World. Its first impression gave me ‘this game wandered out of the early Xbox 360 era with no self awareness’.
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Then, in February of this year, Benzies stated that some of the individuals the studio had allegedly caught doing something would star in an upcoming mission: “We will use these people, these names and these facts for our own fun. We’re gonna put some of these names into our upcoming spy mission.” Normal!
Earlier in the talk, Benzies seems to think it’s all well-in-hand, that the evidence is compelling and that the truth will all come out. What truth? Who’s to say: “We’ve got very strong evidence of this and conducted quite thorough investigations over the months since launch. We’ve identified parties involved, and it’s now with the authorities both [in the] U.K. and U.S. to deal with.
“I can confirm that they’re assisting us with this investigation, but it’s also in their hands now. We’ll leave them to do what they do, make their arrests or any announcements in due course. I think we’re not saying anything further at this stage on that. We’ll just let the natural course of justice take its path.”
But also, doesn’t that seem a little petty for something you’re taking serious legal action on? If there was espionage at work, wouldn’t that show up as like… something more than just an inoffensively poor videogame? Isn’t making an update where you name and shame developers whose guilt is yet to be proven in a court of law jumping the gun just a little?
