MindsEye’s Rocky Launch: Build A Rocket Boy Stumbles

The launch of MindsEye, Build A Rocket Boy’s first AAA title, has become a cautionary tale in modern game releases. Led by ex-Rockstar producer Leslie Benzies—whose résumé includes some of GTA’s most celebrated entries—the ambitious shooter promised “cinematic action” and next-gen fidelity. Instead, players on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S have been greeted by frequent crashes, debilitating performance drops, and a PR meltdown that even glossy marketing couldn’t paper over.

Historical Context: From Everywhere to MindsEye

Build A Rocket Boy was founded in 2019 by Benzies alongside veterans of big-budget development. Their first public project, Everywhere, was unveiled in 2020 as a sprawling open-world sandbox. Over a year later, the project quietly faded from view, with very little to show beyond a tech demo. MindsEye was pitched as a course correction: a more contained experience, blending tight shooter mechanics with a branching narrative. Early teasers showcased soaring vistas and detailed characters, but missing deadlines and closed-door demos foreshadowed the bumpy road ahead.

Technical Issues in Detail

At launch on June 6, MindsEye’s patch notes read like a horror story. According to the 1.01 PC hotfix posted on Steam, the studio addressed “memory leaks causing mid-mission crashes” and “texture streaming failures leading to stutters.” Console players had to wait another 48 hours for patch 1.02, which “improved load times on Xbox Series X” and “resolved rare audio dropouts on PS5.” Yet community reports suggest the fixes only scratched the surface:

• Steam user “GlitchLord42” complained**: “Crashes every 15 minutes in co-op. My RTX 3080 can’t hold 30fps for more than 10 seconds.”
• Reddit poster u/GamerGal noted**: “Particle effects look amazing, but enemy AI still pathfinds through walls.”
• Multiple threads on the official Discord list perpetual “game over” hangs and save corruption.

Review aggregators show a 32% “mixed or negative” rating on Metacritic as of launch week—a steep fall even before longer-term metrics settle.

Streamer Fallout

Sponsored livestreams are typically a buffer for shaky AAA titles, but MindsEye found even that lifeline snapped. Clips of popular streamer DarkViper stifling laughter while demoing a glitchy boss fight have gone viral. Meanwhile, CohhCarnage revealed that Build A Rocket Boy canceled his sponsored slot two days before release, reportedly to avoid “premature footage of unfinished levels.” One mid-tier Twitch partner, known only as “NovaPulse,” walked off camera mid-stream after an unpredictable soft-lock. When your marketing partners begin to mutiny, it’s a sign the game’s bigger problems can’t be glossed over.

Developer Response and Roadmap

In an official statement on June 7, community manager Maya Santos wrote: “We know MindsEye didn’t meet your expectations at launch. Our team is working around the clock—across multiple time zones—to deliver patches, stability improvements, and content updates.” The roadmap shared on the game’s website promises:

• Late June: Patch 1.03 to improve CPU thread management and address 10+ crash-to-desktop issues.
• Early July: Update to rebalance weapon damage and health regen in single-player.
• Mid-Q3: Free “Outbreak” expansion with two new maps and enhanced co-op matchmaking.

Still, timelines in this era of “fix it live” launches can slip. Industry veterans point to Cyberpunk 2077’s year-long recovery as both warning and inspiration.

Redeeming Features

Not all is lost. Beneath the chaos, MindsEye offers glimpses of its intended potential:

• The cinematics, crafted in Unreal Engine 5, deliver richly lit environments and fluid character animations.
• Composer Lena Wu’s orchestral score elevates key missions, giving the world a haunting, memorable identity.
• Voice performances from veteran actors Alex Graves and Simone Kellerman lend gravitas to an otherwise straightforward hero’s journey.

These strengths suggest that, once the technical foundation is secured, Build A Rocket Boy could finally reveal the polished shooter they promised.

Conclusion: To Play or Not to Play?

For gamers who can’t abide by frequent crashes and half-finished mechanics, patience is the safest route. Bookmark the Steam and console patch-notes pages, and revisit MindsEye in six months—just as the studio’s long-term support plan takes form. If you’re a completionist or want to support developers through rough patches, take note of the current performance issues before buying, and – where possible – pick up a discounted key once the bulk of the bugs are squashed.

For Build A Rocket Boy, the real fix lies in listening to frontline feedback, granting developers breathing room to polish core systems, and sticking to the post-launch roadmap they laid out. The talent is undeniably there—now it’s a matter of giving that talent the time and tools to deliver.