According to Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming, Build A Rocket Boy actually has proof of a sabotage campaign against the company and their game, and intends on pursuing legal action.
First, let’s get context. If you’re already up-to-date with what happened last year, skip the below the video.
A few weeks before MindsEye launched last year, Mark Gerhard, co-CEO of Build A Rocket Boy, alleged that the game was the victim of a targeted campaign to trash the game and studio. The company doubled-down after launch, blaming “saboteurs” for the game’s poor reception. They alleged that somebody was unhappy with the success of Leslie Benzies, founder of the studio and former producer for Grand Theft Auto at Rockstar, as well as being president of Rockstar North. He sued Take-Two and Rockstar executives Sam and Dan Houser in April 2016 for $150 million in unpaid bonuses and royalties, alleging sabotage of his sabbatical and contract breaches. Rockstar countersued, claiming he failed to perform duties and violated non-compete rules by hiring staff. The case settled confidentially in 2019 after years of litigation.
Insider Gaming was provided a video of an internal company meeting on the condition that the video not be made public, for very obvious reasons. In the meeting, MindsEye co-CEO Mark Gerhard straight-up tells employees “we caught the guys” sabotaging the game.
Gerhard claims that his company was the victim of a smear campaign run by a “very big American company,” but that “it’s probably not the company you’re thinking of.” Said campaign apparently totalled over a million Euros.
Gerhard goes into more details, claiming that a UK company called Ritual Network was paying some Build A Rock Boy employees, three journalists and several influencers.
Apparently, these people will be getting served shortly, with the charges being “espionage, sabotage, and criminal interference.”
Ritual Network is based here in the UK, and is a multi-channel network and influencer management agency focused mainly on YouTube creators and brands. It would certainly have the connections to conduct a smear campaign if it wished, but Gerhard’s accusation that it paid off Build A Rocket Boy employees and including journalists would put the company in hot water, if there’s any proof.
Tom Hender of Insider Gaming reached out to Ritual Network and received a fairly generic reply denying everything and stating that, “We are not aware of any legitimate legal action involving Ritual Network and have not been provided with any evidence supporting these claims. Any suggestion that Ritual Network is connected to these allegations is incorrect.”
Henderson also reached out to Build A Rocket Boy who told him that they cannot comment on internal communications, but outright state that they do have evidence of wrongdoing. “Sadly, we do have evidence that there has been a coordinated campaign to purposefully and maliciously damage Build A Rocket Boy’s reputation and undermine confidence in MindsEye,” they told Henderson. “We are working with our legal team and taking steps to address this.”
Now comes the potential bit of legal trouble for Build A Rocket Boy, although I’m not a lawyer, so I’m unsure if of the legality of its action. You see, in the meeting, Gerhard admitted they had installed “enhanced cybersecurity software”. Insider Gaming says they learned the software was Teramind, which employs various methods, including tracking keystrokes and screen activity. Most importantly, the source claims this was added without employees knowledge, causing some upset in the company.
This is shaping up to be a very interesting story. The claims of Build A Rocket Boy last year were brushed aside, with most people viewing it as someone ranting rather than accepting that their game just wasn’t very good. That notion was reinforced by MindEye launched and recieved poor reviews from critics and players alike.
However, Gerhard and his company have not backed down and now claim to have genuine evidence. Of course, we don’t know how compelling that evidence is yet, as they are smart to keep it under wraps until it reaches court, should it come to that.
But none of this answers the very obvious question: who would want to run a campaign against MindsEye and why? Previous comments made by the company seemed to hint toward Rockstar, but it’s highly doubtful they would care enough to do this. Would they be threatened by MindsEye? Unlikely. So is it a more personal vendetta?
So, what do you guys think? Do they have genuine proof? Has there been a conspiracy against Build A Rocket Boy, and if so, which company are they alleging was behind it all?
WGB 