4 days ago
6
Blacklisted, a MindsEye job originally designed as a Hitman crossover, was released by BARB last week
Update: Responding to RPS' request for comment to the IWGB union on the layoff report, IWGB member and ex-Build A Rocket Boy employee Kirby Lipardo provided the following statement:
"Rumours, chaos and job losses might be synonymous with Build A Rocket Boy, but we have no reason to believe fresh redundancies are taking place at the company. Through our strong network of BARB employees, both past and present, we understand this departure of staff to be the continuation of the cuts announced in March. Many, like myself, were locked out of their work accounts on the day they were laid off. However, several of my colleagues remained working there for a period of time, which we believe is now coming to a close.
"For many on the outside, it may be fun to speculate about the drama unfolding at BARB but we, the nearly 100 workers out of a job, are the human cost. During my time at BARB I saw how redundancies, remote work and intimidation were being used by management as ways of dismantling any sense of community amongst the workforce. But organising through the union restored a sense of collectivity and agency that has allowed workers there to successfully resist management’s ongoing paranoia.
"Alongside our organising work the union is fighting a legal case over their previous round of redundancies, alleging breaches of collective consultation obligations, procedural unfairness, unlawful blacklisting and trade union detriment. If successful, the claim could cost BARB millions. Upper management are going to such extreme lengths to find MindEye’s 'internal saboteurs' amongst the staff, when they would benefit themselves and others by showing the same passionate intensity towards making a good experience."
Original story follows:
MindsEye developers Build a Rocket Boy (BARB) have reportedly laid off around 170 of their remaining 250 staff in yet another round of cuts. The move leaves them with a studio of approximately 80 people following the release of an in-game mission which alludes to the alleged "sabotage" BARB CEO Mark Gerhard claims the game faced around its initial release.
The numbers of staff reportedly let go come from Kotaku, with Build a Rocket Boy yet to confirm the layoffs or any figures themselves. However, several BARB developers have posted on LinkedIn in the past five says about being let go.
"Due to the latest redundancies at BARB unfortunately my role is ending at the end of May," wrote technical level designer James Tyler, whose profile cites him as only having joined Build a Rocket Boy in Februrary this year. QA analyst Gary Iain Gough, level designer Leah Philpot, and audio designer Tom Cross have also posted about being let go. Digital marketing manager George Jons-Clothier has done the same on MindsEye's official Discord server.
I've reached out to Build a Rocket Boy for comment.
This is the third time Build a Rocket Boy have laid off a chunk of staff in the past year. In a statement about the second round of layoffs, BARB CEO Mark Gerhard wrote that "the prolonged impact of the difficult launch means that we still had to take the brutal and heartbreaking step of reducing the size of the studio once again to ensure the long-term future of the company and the projects we continue to build".
He also used that statement to declare that the studio had "overwhelming evidence of organized espionage and corporate sabotage affecting MindsEye", allusions to which he separately said BARB were working into an in-game mission dubbed Blacklisted. That mission, originally intended as a crossover with Hitman before BARB parted ways with original publishers IO Interactive, arrived last week. I gave it a go, so you can check out my thoughts if you're keen to get an idea of what sorts of juicy gossip it contains (very little).
Solidarity to everyone affected by these latest layoffs at Build a Rocket Boy.
English (US) ·