MindsEye director Leslie Benzies' micro-management led to bugs being dubbed "Leslies" or "Leslie tickets", former devs claim

One besides alleges the erstwhile GTA shaper "never decided what crippled helium wanted to make"

A fig of erstwhile unit astatine MindsEye developers Build A Rocket Boy person offered immoderate much details connected alleged mismanagement astatine the company. They assertion that manager Leslie Benzies "never decided what crippled helium wanted to make" during improvement of some dodgy action-adventure MindsEye and the umbrella crippled instauration instrumentality Everywhere. The erstwhile developers besides overgarment a representation of disruptive micro-management, with issues Benzies spotted being named aft him and forced to the apical of the precedence list.

This is according to a study from the BBC, which follows 93 existent and erstwhile unit astatine Build a Rocket Boy signing an unfastened missive accusing the studio's elder enactment of having "consistently mishandled the redundancy process" erstwhile laying disconnected betwixt 250 and 300 staff. The missive signees besides assertion BARB mandated "unbearable levels of overtime" astir the game's launch.

These developers person besides filed ineligible claims against the studio, with assistance from the Independent Workers of Great Britain union. Build a Rocket Boy person said they handled the redundancies "with attraction and transparency, gathering each our obligations", adding that they're "listening intimately to feedback from erstwhile employees and are committed to learning and increasing from it".

"Leslie ne'er decided what crippled helium wanted to make," said 'Jamie', an anonymous erstwhile Build a Rocket Boy developer who near the institution successful 2022. They described the studio's archetypal transportation for Everywhere - an online crippled instauration instrumentality organised astir a metropolis hub, which BARB person shelved portion they enactment connected fixing MindsEye - arsenic "something rather special". The workplace managed to propulsion successful a batch of currency successful those aboriginal days, accruing much than £233 cardinal of concern by 2024, but were inactive posting losses.

Mismanagement was rife astatine BARB, erstwhile employees say, with erstwhile subordinate shaper Margherita 'Marg' Peloso alleging their attempts to rise concerns astir issues were "laughed off". Benzies successful peculiar is singled retired arsenic having made things worse with his attack to highlighting problems successful the game, with the devs citing a YouTube video connected Build a Rocket Boy's transmission that shows the manager playing the crippled portion instructing folks to pen down issues with the likes of occurrence extinguishers and raindrops.

The ex-staff accidental these hole requests were known arsenic "Leslie tickets", with Jamie saying they were besides dubbed "Leslie bugs" oregon conscionable "Leslies". The issue, they claim, is that specified bugs oregon sometimes requests to scrap full missions were each expected to beryllium shunted consecutive to the beforehand of the queue. "It didn't substance what other you were doing, what other was being worked on," said erstwhile pb information expert Ben Newbon. "The Leslie summons had to beryllium taken attraction of."

Further in, Newbon cites the studio's prime assurance squad arsenic having been peculiarly severely affected by crunch successful the run-up to MindsEye's merchandise from mid-February to May. According to ex-Build a Rocket Boy audio programmer Isaac Hudd, "mistakes started piling up" arsenic the devs were pushed harder, with antecedently fixed bugs being accidentally revived amid attempts to swat others.

That brings america to the existent authorities of play, with the remaining unit astatine Build a Rocket Boy saying they're inactive committed to improving MindsEye, portion the erstwhile devs instrumentality action. "We each cognize each other, and we cognize however overmuch we're worth," Peloso said of the crushed they chose to talk out. "We request to basal together."