MindsEye, Presumed Dead, Gets a Surprise Update 4 After Troubled Launch

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by

Leo Circuit

In the captivating and often tumultuous landscape of video game development, few narratives are as compelling as that of MindsEye. For months, this inaugural third-party title from IO Interactive appeared destined for the digital graveyard. Its launch was beset with issues, leading many in the tech community to question IO Interactive’s foray into publishing. Digital Tech Explorer’s monitoring of player data reflected a grim reality: concurrent player counts on Steam dwindled to barely a dozen daily, accompanied by a puzzling silence from developer Build a Rocket Boy since mid-July. By all indications, the game’s fate was sealed.

Jacob Diaz in MindsEye

However, in a surprising turn that underscores the unpredictable nature of the gaming industry, Build a Rocket Boy has resurfaced with Update 4. This patch, as detailed by the developers, aims to tackle numerous bug fixes, deliver crucial performance enhancements, and refine the user experience. Adding to the intrigue, the studio has confirmed that Update 5 is already in development, promising “major performance, combat and Enemy AI system improvement.”

The Bizarre Backstory of MindsEye’s Tumultuous Launch

The release of this new patch is made all the more surprising by the bizarre circumstances surrounding MindsEye’s development and launch. Prior to its release, Build a Rocket Boy’s co-CEO alleged there was a “concerted effort to trash the game and the studio.” This extraordinary claim was later echoed by studio founder Leslie Benzies following the game’s commercial failure. Benzies also reportedly mentioned plans for a “relaunch,” even as a significant portion of the studio’s staff faced layoffs in the wake of the game’s poor reception. Adding to the pre-launch drama, the company’s chief financial officer and chief legal officer both resigned less than two weeks before the game’s official release.

Can MindsEye Be Saved? Player Data and Developer Communication

The crucial question remains for tech enthusiasts and players alike: can MindsEye truly be saved? The outlook appears challenging. According to SteamDB, the concurrent player count on Steam remains incredibly low. While the release of the latest patch did cause a small spike to a 24-hour peak of 26 players, our analysis on Digital Tech Explorer suggests this is hardly the sign of a major comeback. Beyond the technical issues, player feedback frequently points to fundamental design flaws within the core game experience—a deeper problem that patches alone often struggle to rectify. Build a Rocket Boy’s communication strategy has also been a point of concern; aside from patch notes and a single social media post in mid-July, the studio maintained a prolonged silence, leaving its small, dedicated community feeling abandoned.

MindsEye Update 4: Comprehensive Improvements and Bug Fixes

Improvements

  1. Environment
    • Trailer Tanks in Free Roam now explode when shot at
    • Several improvements have been made to architecture and assets to help with performance
    • Improved weather change when player leaves the Factory at the start of Robin Hood Mission
    • Improved traversal on A New Job and Loose Ends missions where player may get stuck in certain assets
  2. Visual Effects
    • Cutscene VFX performance improvements
    • Cutscene VFX management changes and Niagara system updates to reduce CPU spikes and overall frame rate
    • Disabled ambient rubbish to improve performance
  3. NPC
    • Small performance improvement on Robots
    • NPCs that are aiming and in-cover now look more natural
  4. Art
    • General performance improvements: shaders, assets, collisions
  5. UI
    • Resolved inconsistent dropdown menu behaviour in graphics settings, ensuring reliable input response
    • Added the ability to skip cinematics
  6. Audio
    • Audio Optimisation regarding Mass Vehicles
    • Music adjustments throughout MindsEye missions
    • Added Destruction SFX on Glass Bottle Props
  7. Missions
    • Conditional dialogue now triggers with more natural pacing
    • The companion drone torch is now automatically enabled when entering or starting in dark areas
  8. Animation
    • Optimised the ambient and civilian animations.
    • Exit/entry animations no longer play for driverless vehicles
  9. Gameplay
    • Aim assist will focus on enemies in vehicle turrets over the driver

Bug Fixes

  • Various Mission flow bug fixes
  • Fixed pixelated reflection in Rocket Transporter window
  • Fixed Industrial vent asset to help with performance
  • Resolved an issue where players transitioning from Meeting Marco Silva to Executive Paranoia could drive through objects and fall through the map
  • Fixed ambient animation glitches in Welcome to Redrock City
  • Fixed an issue where camera rotation was lost after cutscenes
  • Several lighting LOD pop issues fixed in cutscenes
  • Fixed a bug where burning vehicles wouldn’t transition to destroyed state
  • Fixed several traversal issues in world where the player may get stuck
  • Fixed an issue in The Ziggurat where a hole in wall allowed players to climb through and trap themselves
  • Fixed an issue in Oh Lily! where players could get stuck in Morrison’s Silo without a way to get back out
  • Fixed collision on glass roof of Silva Factory
  • Fixed a number of Character Model issues in cutscenes that made them look deformed and stretched for a few frames
  • Resolved Silva’s teeth looking too bright on medium/ lower settings on PC
  • NPCs no longer freeze when interacting with certain objects
  • Weapon Wheel hover SFX is now triggered correctly, without delays

Build.MindsEye Update 4: PC-Only Highlights, Improvements, and Bug Fixes

Highlights

  • Added a new “Player Content” Tile to the MindsEye Play Menu where all Builders published content will be immediately available to browse and play
  • Updated UGC Moderation flow from Pre-Moderation to Post-Moderation
  • Player made content will now be automatically accessible in the new “Player Content” Tile
  • A new Tile for “Curated Content” has been added, that will highlight player content picked by Build A Rocket Boy

Improvements & Bug Fixes

  • The character Red Sand Male 25 is now available for use in Build.MindsEye
  • Added a toggle to enable or disable Logic Nodes from being captured in the thumbnail capture of UGC Content
  • Timer Logic Nodes now support decimal places up to .000 and can be refreshed infinitely
  • [Min Spec Performance Improvement]: Disabled Nanite compute materials due to negative effects on older Nvidia Graphics Cards
  • [Min Spec Performance Improvement]: Fixed an issue where our Nanite render pipeline always used the Hardware Rasterizer path
  • Removed EVERYWHERE vehicles from Build.MindsEye
  • Fixed an issue where the AI Spawner Spawn limits and Performance Scores of spawners were not correctly calculated
  • Improved camera behaviour in Build.MindsEye to save the last position more frequently
  • Fixed various issues with the Vehicle Selection UI Node, Physics Force Node, and Transform Variable Node
  • Fixed multiple crashes, including one caused by undoing the creation of large Stamps
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