Build A Rocket Boy has begun another round of layoffs at its Edinburgh studio, with multiple staff confirming their departures, according to IGN. The scale of the new cuts remains unclear, but HR operations lead Dan Hawkins says he will stay on to "see BARB through till the very end."

Hawkins, principal talent acquisition partner and HR operations lead, confirmed his own exit in a LinkedIn post. "With a very heavy heart I raise my green banner, along with the rest of my colleagues at Build a Rocket Boy," he wrote.

In the same post, Hawkins described his tenure: "Just shy of 5 years here at BARB and one hell of a ride! Being the first hire into our internal recruitment team, taking the studio from 200 to 550 in a short period of time. It has been an honour to work alongside so many talented people, far too many to mention!"

He added that he will keep "helping wrap things up here in the HR department" while looking for new opportunities, both inside and outside the games industry.

How did the studio get here?

The action-adventure title MindsEye launched in June 2025 to dismal reviews, with players reporting bugs and performance issues and the last-minute cancellation of sponsored marketing streams. The studio laid off an estimated 300 developers shortly after release, with further redundancies confirmed earlier this year.

Despite the turmoil, Build A Rocket Boy kept shipping updates, including a "free starter pack" trial across all platforms in November.

In February, the studio announced a "new phase of ongoing development" for MindsEye — its first significant PR push since launch. Then, in March, IOI Partners, the publishing division of IO Interactive, and Build A Rocket Boy concluded their publishing agreement for the game.

What happens to the studio now?

One source familiar with the studio told IGN that Build A Rocket Boy may not be formally dissolved even if all remaining staff are let go. The studio has not responded to a request for comment.

The new cuts follow an unusual public protest in July, when Build A Rocket Boy staff demonstrated outside the Edinburgh offices. They objected to an "all-expenses-paid" fan event that they considered inappropriate given the scale of the layoffs already made.

What to watch

Hawkins's phrasing — wrapping things up "till the very end" — signals an operational wind-down rather than a routine restructuring. Watch for whether the studio files a formal administration process in Scotland, and whether MindsEye's ongoing update pipeline continues once the remaining HR functions close out.