Build a Rocket Boy Is Closing Its Studio

Overview

• Employees posted on LinkedIn on Wednesday that their time at Build a Rocket Boy was ending, with several saying the studio is winding down and others marking themselves open to work.
• Reporting by multiple outlets, citing employee posts and unnamed sources, corroborated that the company is permanently closing while some redundancies may still be processing.
• Dan Hawkins, the studio’s principal talent acquisition partner, said he will stay to ‘see BARB through till the very end’ as HR wraps up operations.
• The IWGB Games Worker Union issued a public statement of solidarity for affected staff and said it remains committed to pursuing a grievance over alleged unlawful monitoring and other workplace abuses.
• Build a Rocket Boy’s troubles followed the widely criticized release of MindsEye, earlier rounds of layoffs and internal disputes involving management figures Leslie Benzies and Mark Gerhard, which together weakened the studio’s prospects.