Two executives at Build A Rocket Boy have parted ways with the studio, a mere week ahead of the launch of its next title, MindsEye, on June 10.
Spotted by Eurogamer, Chief Legal Officer Riley Graebner and Chief Financial Officer Paul Bland have departed the company. They announced their leave on LinkedIn.
Graebner, who was at the studio for three and a half years, said he’s proud of what the team accomplished. He mentioned doubling the size of the company to over 450 people and building a legal team and legal ops infrastructure as highlights of his tenure.
“There are so many people who have made my time at BARB memorable and I fear forgetting essential names,” Graebner wrote. “A heartfelt thank you will have to do.”
A “concerted effort” to “trash” MindsEye and Build A Rocket Boy
The news comes days after a user in the MindsEye Discord server asked studio co-CEO Mark Gerhard if the people who reacted negatively to the game were financed by someone, to which he replied “100%” (via VG247.) He then claimed that there’s been a “concerted effort to trash the game and the studio.”
Build A Rocket Boy, which is spearheaded by former Grand Theft Auto V producer Leslie Benzies, is following up on a tumultuous 2024. In January, the studio received $110 million to continue building its immersive game platform Everywhere, announced back in 2022 around vague mentions of a blockchain component, as well as MindsEye and UGC design tools. Then, it laid off an unknown number of staff just over four weeks later.
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In October, Hitman creator IO Interactive announced a partnership as publisher for MindsEye, as well as the Everywhere platform. Two months later, the studio acquired PlayFusion. As part of the deal, Gerhard, who was CEO and CTO at the studio, joined Build A Rocket Boy as co-CEO.
“We’ve always admired PlayFusion’s creativity and innovative approach to transmedia entertainment, and joining forces with them will ascend Build a Rocket Boy to our next level of excellence,” Benzies said at the time.