MindsEye Developer is Still Sponsoring Content Despite Low Player Counts, Studio Lay-Offs

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People in the YouTube video’s comments have pointed out the sponsorship, with one user jokingly comparing the sponsor, MindsEye, to the poorly received movie Morbius. Another commenter was surprised by the sponsorship, and drew a comparison to how awkward a sponsored video for the cancelled game Concord would have been.

Even though the studio has been paying to promote MindsEye, it doesn’t seem to be helping much. Currently, the game only has about 22 players online at any given time, according to Steamdb. This is a significant drop from the 3,302 players it had when it first launched. Player numbers fell quickly, going from an initial peak to 280 within a week, and have continued to decline since then. It’s important to remember these numbers are just for PC players; MindsEye might be performing better on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Build a Rocket Boy has consistently updated MindsEye since its launch. A significant update in October drastically changed the game by removing the open-world elements and reintroducing ARCADIA—a platform for players to share and experience user-created missions and content. This change allows the studio to combine its Play.MindsEye and Build.MindsEye features into one unified experience called Build.ARCADIA. Further updates to MindsEye have continued to expand the available ARCADIA content.

MindsEye’s development hasn’t been smooth. In October, Ben Newborn, a former analyst at Build a Rocket Boy, publicly claimed that studio leaders dismissed and mocked problems with the game during its creation. Margherita Peloso, a former associate producer, echoed these concerns.

According to Newborn, studio CEO Leslie Benzies would often identify problems with the game by simply playing the latest build and pointing out what needed improvement. These requests, known as “Leslie tickets,” took immediate priority. Newborn explained that no matter what else the team was working on, they had to address these issues right away.

Alex Hernandez, the lead actor in MindsEye who played Jacob Diaz, has shared that he worried the film’s title would harm his career and potentially lead to him losing work.

He explained that it’s tough when you dedicate two and a half years to a project you believe in and are proud to have worked on. He said his experience was entirely positive, and he was invested in the success of his colleagues just as much as his own.

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2026-01-19 18:11