MindsEye will litigate its own launch 'sabotage' controversy in DLC form
MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy remains so convinced that corporate foul play contributed to the disastrous launch of its debut game that it’s now planning to prove it to its audience via in-game content.
In a wide-ranging interview with GamesBeat, BARB CEO and CTO Mark Gerhard said MindsEye will soon receive a multiplayer update, as well as a new mission called Blacklist in which the studio will "share some of the evidence of the sabotage with the community." Gerhard didn’t elaborate further, beyond revealing that the new mission will also introduce a playable female character, but promised further updates to the game in the coming months.
BARB hopes its DLC will inspire the MindsEye community to create their own user-generated content with its Arcadia platform, which was always the long-term plan for the troubled action game. "The end state we want to be at is where the community can make their own [content] and can dream up their own creations, and again, without being a studio or needing to program or anything," Gerhard told GamesBeat. "They can actually make really fun and compelling experiences for themselves and their friends. That’s our mission. And I think that’s going to be more and more evident over the next few months."
MindsEye was riddled with bugs and performance issues when it launched last June, resulting in players demanding refunds and the studio hurriedly attempting to patch things up. Layoffs soon followed, with BARB co-CEO Lezlie Benzies reportedly addressing the remaining staff to reassure them of the game’s future. According to an IGN report, the former president of Rockstar North and GTA producer told employees at the time that saboteurs both external and within the company were to blame for the game’s nightmarish rollout.
In his new interview with GamesBeat, Gerhard took responsibility for the bugs and crashes that led to what he admitted was "without doubt, the worst launch in history," but echoed Benzies’ previous comments about the reputational damage the game suffered. "Obviously, we were kind of caught flat-footed on that," he said. "We didn’t counter the negative narrative. We weren’t sophisticated enough to have done that. But, we’re aware. We’ve called that out. Some of the negativity has been orchestrated around this, and thankfully, as a result, it stopped."
Gerhard said that the studio has collected "very strong evidence" of the alleged leaks following months of "thorough investigations," adding that the case is now in the hands of authorities in the UK and US.
BARB recently parted ways with co-publisher IOI Partners (a subsidiary of Hitman developer IO Interactive), and will be solely responsible for publishing responsibilities on MindsEye going forward. As a result, the planned MindsEye and Hitman crossover event is no longer going ahead.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/mindseye-will-litigate-its-own-launch-sabotage-controversy-in-dlc-form-152344593.html?src=rss
