MindsEye has had quite the journey since it released last summer, and most of it hasn’t been positive. From developer Build A Rocket Boy scrambling to get things back on track after a catastrophic launch to studio co-CEO Mark Gerhard blaming many of its woes on “organised espionage and corporate sabotage” (which has yet to be proven, byt the way) it’s been a lot.
All that (and more) is why it doesn’t come as a shock that BARB and IOI Partners are ending their short-lived publishing deal. Going forward, the development studio is “assuming sole publishing responsibilities,” a quick press release that we received on 17th March confirmed. “Transitional functions” are still expected to happen, but there will be a “seamless transition over the coming weeks.”
At the time of writing, no changes to the game’s digital distribution are expected, but it’s safe to assume physical stock might be impacted. In any case, it’s not like previously distributed copies were disappearing from the shelves. BARB isn’t ready to move on from the game, either. The press release stated players “can continue to follow all news” via MindsEye’s official channels.
On the creative front, the only major change announced yesterday is that a Hitman-themed mission collaboration for MindsEye is, unsurprisingly, no longer happening. It’s unclear if the content was near done or still deep in development, but given the clean separation, such an update no longer makes sense for the parties involved.
Eurogamer’s review of MindsEye called it “an action game with crap action” despite the substantial Rockstar Games pedigree of the studio. Personally, I found it to be somewhat charming (perhaps ironically, I don’t know for sure) after its meatier updates, but it’s hard to deny it was a high-profile failure that people in the industry will be talking about for a while.
