MindsEye Staff Take Legal Action Against Build a Rocket Boy Over Secret Surveillance Software

Build a Rocket Boy is in legal hot water. Again.

Staff at the MindsEye studio have initiated proceedings against management after bosses reportedly installed surveillance software onto employee devices without their knowledge, and the whole thing reads like something out of a corporate thriller.

The software in question is Teramind, which markets itself as the "#1 rated employee monitoring software." On paper, it tracks productivity and helps secure data. In practice, it logs keystrokes, takes screenshots, records screens, and, according to the IWGB Game Workers Union, also captures microphone audio. Workers found out it had been installed on their machines not through any official notice, but because their computers started slowing down.

That's not ideal.

How It Came Out

Back in February, a leaked internal meeting confirmed that co-CEO Mark Gerhard had acknowledged the software's presence on employee devices. Gerhard reportedly framed it as an "enhanced cybersecurity" measure, though he also used the moment to blame what he described as internal saboteurs within the company. It wasn't the first time he'd pointed fingers inward. Gerhard has repeatedly, and without concrete proof, suggested a small group of staff were actively working to undermine the studio.

Following the revelation, 40 employees signed a collective grievance, which led to Teramind being removed from their devices in March. But removal doesn't equal resolution. BARB management has still not disclosed what data was collected through the software, why it was installed in the first place, or where any captured data is currently being held.

Those are pretty significant questions to leave unanswered.

The Legal Action

The IWGB Game Workers Union announced the legal proceedings on 21 April, escalating the matter through the UK's Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) and the Information Commissioner's Office. The union alleges that BARB's use of Teramind went well beyond any reasonable definition of productivity monitoring. The programme tracked keystrokes, recorded screen activity, and captured microphone audio, with employees working from home at the time.

Spring McParlin Jones, chair of the IWGB Game Workers Branch, said: "Having borne the brunt of Mark and Leslie's paranoia, these workers stood up for each other and stood up to bullies in management, forcing them to be accountable for their actions and get rid of Teramind."

Chris Wilson, lead cinematic animator at Build a Rocket Boy, was equally direct. "Build a Rocket Boy's toxic culture of secrecy and micromanaging is one of the worst I've seen in a 20 year career in the gaming industry. While they have conceded to our headline demand of removing Teramind from our devices, many questions still remain about their actions. It can only be assumed this software was added as part of their effort to micromanage us, a product of their mistrust of their employees. It created an atmosphere of unease, something that doesn't lead to great video game production."

This Isn't the First Lawsuit

This marks the second instance of the IWGB filing legal action against Build a Rocket Boy. The first was announced in October 2025, where the union accused the studio of failure to carry out fair consultation ahead of redundancies, as well as multiple cases of unfair dismissal. That first action relates to the mass layoffs that followed MindsEye's disastrous launch last summer. The union estimates that, if successful, that case, which includes allegations of unlawful blacklisting and failure to engage in collective consultations, could cost BARB millions.

MindsEye launched in June 2025 to one of the lowest Metacritic scores of the year, and things have barely stabilised since. The studio parted ways with IO Interactive following the launch and now handles publishing duties on its own. Gerhard, for his part, has continued to attribute the game's failure to what he calls "organised espionage" and "criminal sabotage." He's even announced an upcoming MindsEye mission called Blacklist that will supposedly present evidence of these alleged acts.

Whether any of that holds up is another matter entirely. What's harder to argue with is a surveillance tool installed on home devices without consent, logged and now the subject of formal legal proceedings. Build a Rocket Boy has been contacted for comment but has not responded publicly at the time of writing.