Hitman studio IO Interactive and MindsEye studio Build a Rocket Boy have officially ended their partnership.
After buying itself out from Square Enix and going fully independent in 2017, IO Interactive‘s publishing plans took a step further in 2024 when it announced IOI Partners, a new venture that would see it publishing games from other developers.
The first game published under the IOI Partners label was MindsEye, the debut game from former Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies‘ studio Build a Rocket Boy.
When MindsEye was released last June, however, it suffered a disastrous launch with social media being flooded with videos of the game’s technical issues and bugs. The situation deteriorated to the extent that PlayStation started refunding multiple players. The game’s Metacritic score currently stands at 38 for the PC version and just 28 for the PS5 version, making it the lowest rated game on Metacritic in 2025.
Now, in a joint statement, IOI Partners and Build a Rocket Boy have announced that their publishing collaboration officially ended as of Monday, with Build a Rocket Boy “assuming sole publishing responsibilities going forward”.
“IOI Partners’ involvement with MindsEye comes to an end, except for any essential transitional functions required to transfer publisher-of-record status to Build A Rocket Boy,” the statement reads.
“Build A Rocket Boy will assume sole publishing responsibilities going forward, ensuring continuity for the MindsEye community and all partners. IOI Partners and BARB are coordinating closely to ensure a seamless transition over the coming weeks.”
Last year it was announced that a Hitman mission planned as a crossover event with MindsEye was in the works. As a result of the separation, this crossover mission has now been scrapped.
Earlier this month Build a Rocket Boy announced that it would be laying off more staff, as its CEO Mark Gerhard suggested “criminal activity”, including espionage and sabotage, played a part in the game’s downfall.
“Over the past months we have been working with external partners and legal advisors to investigate the criminal activity that took place around our launch,” he wrote at the time.
“That work has taken far longer than expected, but it has now resulted in overwhelming evidence of organised espionage and corporate sabotage affecting MindsEye. Because this matter is moving toward prosecution, we cannot share the full details publicly yet.
