IO Interactive Parts Ways with Build a Rocket Boy, Cancels MindsEye Hitman Crossover

Sagar Mankar
Mar 18
3 min read

IO Interactive has officially ended its publishing partnership with Build a Rocket Boy for the sci-fi action game MindsEye.

The split was confirmed through an official blog post from IO Interactive, stating that the partnership concluded on March 16, 2026. Build a Rocket Boy now takes on sole publishing responsibilities for the title going forward.

IO Interactive's involvement with the project has largely wrapped up, with the only remaining work being the "transitional functions required to transfer publisher-of-record status." That transition is expected to be completed over the coming weeks.

No More Crossover with Hitman

Along with the publishing split, IO Interactive has also pulled the plug on the planned Hitman crossover mission for MindsEye. The collaboration was originally announced back in June 2025 and generated a fair amount of excitement among fans of both franchises. Unfortunately, that mission will no longer see the light of day.

For those unfamiliar with the game at the center of all this, MindsEye is a single-player, story-driven sci-fi action-adventure developed by Build a Rocket Boy, a studio based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It launched on June 10, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.

The studio was founded by Leslie Benzies, the former Rockstar North producer who had a hand in some of the most iconic games ever made, including GTA III through V, Red Dead Redemption, and L.A. Noire. With that kind of pedigree behind it, expectations heading into launch were understandably high.

The game puts players in the shoes of Jacob Diaz, a former elite soldier working for the Silva Corporation in a near-future desert city called Redrock. A mysterious neural implant known as the MindsEye haunts him with fragmented memories from a failed covert mission. The story unfolds across a cinematic campaign that runs roughly 15 to 20 hours, weaving together themes of rogue AI, corporate corruption, and some genuinely intriguing sci-fi concepts.

Sadly, the execution did not quite match the vision. MindsEye launched to overwhelmingly negative reviews. According to Metacritic, the PC version scored just 38 out of 100, with zero percent of critics rating it positively. OpenCritic reported only around an 8% recommendation rate.

Major outlets were blunt in their assessments. IGN gave it a 4 out of 10, noting it was "high on ambition but low on original ideas" and simply "not ready to be released." Eurogamer was even harsher, criticizing its "ridiculous story, inconsistent writing, poorly designed missions, and utterly atrocious combat." GameSpot called it "stringent and relentlessly dull" with "formulaic mission design," while Digital Trends labeled it a "baffling, busted shooter" in an "unfinished" state.

The post-launch period was equally turbulent. Reports of heavy layoffs emerged, with over 100 redundancies confirmed and nearly 300 more employees said to be at risk. Employee open letters raised concerns about toxic management and crunch culture. Leadership, meanwhile, responded to the wave of negative reviews by pointing fingers at alleged "bot campaigns" and "external sabotage." It was a rough few months by any measure.

The development team has continued to support MindsEye with regular updates. Update 7, released in February 2026, brought notable improvements, including AI fixes, campaign refinements, new races, and expanded endgame content. The reception on Steam has gradually shifted as a result. While early reviews were firmly in "Mostly Negative" territory, the overall rating has since moved to Mixed, sitting at around 50% positive.

More encouragingly, recent reviews have climbed to Mostly Positive at 72%, reflecting a game that has clearly improved since its rough debut.

Whether MindsEye can fully recover from its troubled launch remains to be seen. Concurrent player numbers are still low (less than 100), and the loss of the IO Interactive partnership is another setback the studio did not need.

That said, Build a Rocket Boy appears committed to keeping the game alive and expanding it through its ARCADIA content program and community creation tools.