A SCOTTISH games studio, launched by one of the main producers of the Grand Theft Auto series, has fallen into administration after it made hundreds of employees redundant.
Edinburgh-based Build A Rocket Boy (Barb) was founded in 2018 by Leslie Benzies, the main producer behind the immensely popular Grand Theft Auto series, but has cut more than 300 jobs over the last 12 months after the disastrous launch of the company’s first game, MindsEye.
The game was launched in June 2025 with much hype and anticipation around it from the industry; however, it was dogged with issues and bad reviews, with many gamers referring to it as “the worst game” of the year.
Following the game's poor reception, around 300 jobs were cut by the studio in October last year, with around 150 of those roles based at the firm's base in Edinburgh.
Last week, The National reported that several remaining employees at the studio announced on LinkedIn that they have been let go from Barb.
On Friday, it emerged on Companies House that the firm has now fallen into administration and could be sold to a new owner or closed down completely with its assets liquidated.
Among those who said they had been made redundant last week was production QA analyst Cameron Deaves, who said his time at the studio was “coming to an end,” along with level designer Liam Shannon and release manager Michaela Emslie.
Dan Hawkins, Barb’s principal talent acquisition partner and HR operations, also implied the rest of the team at the studio had been made redundant.
“With a very heavy heart I raise my green [LinkedIn Open To Work] banner, along with the rest of my colleagues at Build A Rocket Boy,” he wrote on his social media account.
“I am ‘Open To Work,’ actively looking for a new adventure.”
Last year, 93 current and former employees signed an open letter, issued by the Game Workers Branch of the Independent Workers of Great Britain, claiming Barb’s refusal to listen to its staff resulted in “one of the worst video game launches this decade”.
The letter also claimed that all staff were made to work eight hours of overtime per week, with time off in lieu allegedly promised, but at the time had not happened due to “high priority” work still taking place after the release of MindsEye.
Employees also cited burnout, job insecurity and health issues whilst working on the game “that many of us have put years of our lives into”.
