Inside the Turmoil: An Ex-MindsEye Developer Reveals Sabotage, Crunch Culture, and Spying

Chris Wilson has been an animator in the gaming industry for over 20 years, contributing to titles you might have played, like GSC’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham Knight, and IO Interactive’s Hitman: Absolution. However, he also worked on Build a Rocket Boy’s MindsEye, which has faced harsh criticism and is often cited as one of the most poorly received launches in recent memory. “Sometimes traumatic experiences can bring people closer, right?” he remarked. “But people… they’re embarrassed about it. They don’t want to talk about it. They don’t want to say that they were part of the project or worked there.”

The studio has gone through two rounds of layoffs, faced accusations related to an alleged leaked internal meeting about the installation of “enhanced cybersecurity software” Teramind on employees’ workstations without their consent, and recently dealt with a collective grievance led by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, signed by 40 Build a Rocket Boy employees, alleging “unlawful blacklisting” and claims that the studio was “recording individuals in their homes and without their consent.”

Most current and former staff involved in the legal issues have chosen to remain anonymous, but Wilson, who served as the lead cinematic animator for MindsEye from November 2020 to April 2026, has decided to speak out. He recently sat down for a lengthy interview to discuss his experiences at the studio and the fallout over the past year. With nearly six years since he joined, why speak up now? What pushed him to come forward?

“Basically, the Teramind monitoring and the blatant lack of respect for the staff, where they were not being honest about the reasons for the monitoring, why they started it, when they started it—that was like finding that nail in the coffin for me,” Wilson explained.

Teramind is described as an “employee monitoring software” that enables keystroke logging, email monitoring, file tracking, social media oversight, remote desktop control, and visual and audio recording, including access to a device’s built-in microphone.

Build a Rocket Boy was founded by Leslie Benzies, the former president of Rockstar North, known for his success with the Grand Theft Auto series. However, his reputation took a hit following the buggy launch of MindsEye and the subsequent layoffs. He also took a temporary leave after his name surfaced in some Epstein-related documents, which he denied any connection to.

While Benzies has returned to the office, tensions flared when co-CEO Mark Gerhard threatened YouTuber Cyber Boi with “escalated legal action” via a cease and desist posted in the MindsEye Discord server for discussing Benzies’ connection to the Epstein files. Gerhard also accused individuals inside and outside the studio of attempting to sabotage it, a claim currently under investigation by law enforcement.

As Gerhard has been the studio’s spokesperson during Benzies’ absence, the dynamics between the two co-CEOs remain unclear. During Benzies’ leave, Gerhard announced an update for MindsEye set for April 28, featuring a new mission titled “Blacklisted.” He claimed this mission would reveal evidence of the alleged sabotage, which he believes was orchestrated by Cyber Boi and Ritual Network.

Originally, Blacklisted was intended to be a crossover mission featuring Agent 47 from the Hitman franchise, which was part of MindsEye’s initial partnership with IO Interactive. However, following the cancellation of that collaboration, Wilson noted that the content was repurposed for the Blacklisted update. “So originally that was part of the IO Interactive Partnership, which was the Hitman mission. Then, with the disintegration of the partnership, things started to move more towards Blacklisted,” he said.

Wilson recounted that during a surprise meeting in early 2026, Benzies presented what he claimed was evidence of sabotage by Cyber Boi, reading “hate mail from his personal email” for ten minutes. The emails, filled with slurs, supposedly admitted to “sabotaging” the company. “Now, these emails read like League of Legends chats,” Wilson remarked. “In no way did it seem like a sophisticated multi-million dollar plan to try and take down Build a Rocket Boy.”

The meeting and the weak evidence of sabotage did not sit well with employees, especially following Gerhard’s announcement of layoffs. Wilson noted that many staff members had little sympathy for Benzies as he shared his grievances. “Everyone was just sort of beyond caring, like, ‘Oh, poor babies.’ Meanwhile, the staff are like, ‘I might lose my house because you’re making me redundant.’”

Wilson explained that Gerhard’s LinkedIn announcement was how many staffers first learned about the layoffs. “There was never an internal company meeting regarding those redundancies. I know a number of people that found out through LinkedIn posts or family members calling them to say, ‘Sorry to hear this.’ People were a bit dumbfounded.”

He also suggested that the layoffs might have been influenced by an internal poll regarding the Blacklisted update, as several developers expressed concerns about working on it due to Gerhard’s comments about “owning this narrative.” “As a result, the company decided to put out a poll asking, ‘Should we remove it? Should we include it?’ Now, anyone I spoke to agreed that we should not [include it]. Then there was a follow-up poll, and it’s my belief that they didn’t get the results they were hoping for,” Wilson said.

While the past year has painted a picture of a studio in turmoil, Wilson reflected on whether the earlier years under Benzies were similarly mismanaged. He noted that while the pre-Gerhard years felt somewhat disorganized, the atmosphere was more positive. Benzies even hosted barbecues for staff at his home, which helped build rapport. “I got to know him there. Seemed like a good guy,” Wilson recalled. “It made me want to be, like, ‘Okay, yeah, I can understand this guy’s vision.’”

However, the positivity eventually gave way to crunch, a term that has become synonymous with the darker side of game development. Benzies has a notorious association with crunch culture, especially during his time at Rockstar Games, where scrutiny began to rise during the development of Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto V.

Benzies managed to avoid much of the backlash related to crunch at Rockstar, as he took a sabbatical in September 2014, later parting ways with the company in January 2016. Rockstar would later face criticism for its crunch culture during the development of Red Dead Redemption 2.

In October 2025, over 90 Build a Rocket Boy employees signed an open letter criticizing the studio for forced crunch during MindsEye’s development. “Even before the disastrous launch of MindsEye, staff had suffered months of crunch, resulting in some horrific mental and even physical illnesses, beyond the typical widespread burnout,” stated former lead games analyst Ben Newborn.

Wilson echoed these sentiments, stating, “It was hard for a lot of people. It did go on for a considerable amount of time. Some teams were on crunch for quite some time. In cinematics, we were probably in crunch from June until a good few months later… no overtime pay or anything like that.”

“Eight hours was the minimum requirement, but people were doing way more for sure,” he continued. “I was doing way over an additional eight hours a week… there were people who were certainly not appreciative of having to work those extra hours, but a lot of people just had to bite the bullet. I think Cinematics were crunching for somewhere between six to nine months.”

Wilson expressed concern that his association with MindsEye might hinder his future job prospects. “It’s driven some people mad to be associated with this, you know? I hear stories of people going for interviews, and the interviewer is like, ‘Oh, you’re at Build a Rocket Boy? I’m so sorry.’”

Gerhard’s outburst on Discord, where he accused Cyber Boi and his associates of “criminal espionage, sabotage, and interference,” also frustrated Wilson. He criticized Gerhard for bringing negative energy to the team and the game, despite his limited involvement. “He’s had no input into the game that people have spent eight, nine years working on,” Wilson said. “If I was Leslie, I would be like, ‘Dude, shut your mouth.’”

Additionally, upper management claimed in January that they had “only been testing [Teramind] for the last couple of weeks,” but Wilson believes monitoring began months earlier. He heard that Benzies privately contacted a key staff member to check if Teramind was installed on his devices, raising concerns about personal home recordings. “This was probably around December. They were working from home. This is where the risk and the rumor of having your personal home environment recorded started,” Wilson explained.

In response to Wilson’s claims, Build a Rocket Boy stated that they have always operated lawfully and appropriately, emphasizing their commitment to protecting their team and creative work.

MindsEye is a game that has generated significant anticipation and interest, even if some of that attention has come with questionable intentions. The studio remains focused on delivering high-quality games and prefers to address genuine issues through proper channels rather than public commentary.

As the interview wrapped up, Wilson spoke on behalf of the developers who have dedicated years to MindsEye: “Despite the highs and lows of the development cycle, the development staff did all that they could and tried their hardest to make it something very, very special. We would in no way try to sabotage or bring down the company. That would go against our better interests. We are developers. Making games is our livelihoods, our careers. All we want to do is to make the best, most entertaining product for anyone willing to give it a try.”