MindsEye’s Bold Pivot: Build a Rocket Boy’s Standalone Action-Adventure Ditches Everywhere, Faces

This announcement caught my eye not just because MindsEye is led by Leslie Benzies (yes, *the* former GTA mastermind), but because it’s one of those rare AAA pivots: what started as a platform experiment is now betting everything on a standalone action-adventure. It’s a wild turn for a studio with so much hype-and drama-behind it.

MindsEye’s New Direction: From Everywhere Experiment to Standalone Gamble

• Standalone Release: MindsEye breaks away from the grand “Everywhere” platform to launch solo on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
• Creative Tools Included: Arcadia, the original suite from Everywhere, now powers MindEye’s own creation and sharing modes.
• Visuals Under Scrutiny: Early impressions compare its graphics to a lost PS3 relic-raising questions about its AAA ambitions.
• Studio Tensions: Co-CEO’s claims of “sabotage” cast a shadow over community feedback and transparency.

If you’ve followed Build a Rocket Boy since its founding, you’ll know their early ambition was almost legendary: two massive projects running in parallel. First, “Everywhere”—a customizable world-builder with its own creation tools (Arcadia), and then MindsEye, an action-adventure only accessible inside that platform. But somewhere between grand vision and reality, plans changed. As of last October, MindsEye became a standalone game, and the “Everywhere” moniker quietly vanished—its website now redirects to MindsEye, and all traces of the original platform are gone.

What’s wild—and genuinely interesting—is that Arcadia, originally built for community creation inside Everywhere, is now MindsEye’s core toolkit. We’re promised a split between Play.MindsEye (campaign and official content) and Build.MindsEye (community game creation). In theory, this could combine the best of two worlds: a slick AAA action-adventure and the endless replayability of user-generated content. But we’ve heard promises like this before, from Project Spark to Dreams, and only a handful ever catch on outside niche circles. I’m curious, but not yet convinced this will be the one to break the mold.

The marketing push leans hard on long-term support (“a decade or more!”), visual “brilliance,” and a “constant flow of premium content.” That last bit has my gamer-senses tingling—because if there’s one thing the post-Fortnite era has taught us, it’s that “constant content” usually means a live-service model with microtransactions lurking in the shadows. While the idea of mixing developer missions with “the best community creations” could give the game legs, there’s a real risk of spreading resources thin or relying on players to pick up the slack if official content falls short.

But let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the visuals. I’ve seen the comparisons to Eight Days and other forgotten PS3-era shooters, and honestly, they’re not unfair—at least based on what’s been shown publicly. For a game led by Leslie Benzies (whose bar for polish is sky-high), the early footage looks flat and dated, especially in an era where players expect jaw-dropping fidelity from their AAA open worlds. Maybe there’s still time to polish things up, but the skepticism isn’t just nitpicking; it’s a reflection of how high the bar has been set by the competition.

And then there’s the drama. Co-CEO Mark Gerhard’s Discord comments about “sabotage” and paid campaigns against the studio aren’t a good look—especially when community reaction is already divided. Instead of addressing feedback with transparency, this kind of defensive posture can backfire, making players more wary, not less. We’ve seen how studios that can’t handle criticism (remember Fallout 76’s early days?) often struggle to rebuild trust.

For gamers, the value proposition comes down to this: Do you buy into the promise of a hybrid between AAA campaign and endless community creations? If you’re a diehard for user-generated content or a fan of Benzies’ past work, there’s a lot to hope for—but right now, there’s just as much cause for skepticism. The jury’s out on whether MindsEye can deliver on its lofty ambitions, or if it’ll go the way of so many “platform” games before it: big dreams, middling execution.

What This Means for Gamers: Potential, Pressure, and Plenty of Questions

Here’s the real significance: MindsEye’s pivot away from Everywhere strips away some technical baggage, but also raises the stakes. Now it has to stand on its own—no more hiding behind a broader platform. If you’ve been burned by overhyped “creative” sandboxes before, caution is warranted. Still, with IO Interactive (Hitman) signed on as publisher, there’s reason to keep watch. The project’s fate could shape perceptions of Build a Rocket Boy for years—either as the next big thing, or another footnote in the annals of “what could have been.”

TL;DR: Hype and Uncertainty in Equal Measure

MindsEye went from ambitious platform add-on to full-fledged standalone action-adventure, carrying over creation tools and promising a “decade” of content. But for all its pedigree and vision, early visuals and strange studio drama invite just as much skepticism as excitement. If you love open-world experimentation (and aren’t afraid of a few rough edges), it’s worth a cautious spot on your radar—but don’t buy the hype until you see the final product in action.

Source: IO Interactive via GamesPress