In context: Developer Build A Rocket Boy and publisher IO Interactive positioned their genre-bending sci-fi shooter MindsEye as the next big blockbuster of 2025. Instead, it’s breaking blocks in ways no one expected. Mission-breaking bugs and crippling glitches made the game nearly unplayable.

MindsEye launched Tuesday with high hopes – and fell apart within seconds. The brainchild of former Grand Theft Auto producer Leslie Benzies, the third-person action-adventure follows Jacob Diaz, a soldier with a neural implant, uncovering forgotten secrets in the desert metropolis of Redrock based loosely on Las Vegas. While it flirts with open-world design, the experience is more like a “faux-pen” world – linear at its core, just dressed up to look expansive.

Early trailers promised polished gameplay and a sprawling cityscape, positioning MindsEye as a sleek, cinematic contender in the crime-action genre and potential GTA killer. With Benzies manning the director’s chair, expectations soared.

This is what we were promised (above). This video review and the clips that follow is what we got.

Reality hit hard. After launch, players flooded forums and social media with reports of glaring issues and meme-worthy clips: glitched facial animations, non-player characters acting erratically or freezing completely, game crashes, and poor optimization that tanked performance across all platforms. The official Discord even disabled emoji reactions to stem the rising tide of negativity.

Steam reviews are hovering around 60 percent negative. Many players have demanded refunds, frustrated that a $60-$80 game with such high-profile backing feels rushed and unfinished. In a rare public update, Build A Rocket Boy acknowledged the issues and promised that the upcoming “Update 3” would deliver performance improvements, especially on consoles. Some players – once enthusiastic – are now cautiously optimistic that patches might turn MindsEye around.

I’ll just leave this here pic.twitter.com/mB2T8LMtwC

– Maggie (@MyRetroReplays) June 11, 2025

While the promise of patches might ease some backlash, the studio’s co-CEO Mark Gerhard deflected blame onto social media bots – allegedly hired by Rockstar Games – for the pre-launch wave of criticism. It’s a familiar dodge in an industry that has grown increasingly comfortable with shipping half-finished products and pointing fingers when things go wrong.

Yeah, Mindseye definitely needed a delay… pic.twitter.com/mhBNkvMN2f

– NikTek (@NikTekOfficial) June 10, 2025

Build A Rocket Boy’s Chief Legal Officer Riley Graebner and Chief Financial Officer Paul Bland announced their departures on LinkedIn just days before the launch. While their parting words were kind, the timing suggests potential internal turmoil over the game’s readiness. Whether those exits were in protest or a preemptive move to distance themselves from the fallout remains unclear. Unsurprisingly, in hindsight, the studio also withheld advance review copies – a decision that fueled suspicion and left players blindsided when MindsEye launched in such a broken state.

Maybe Gerhard still has a chance to salvage his baby from the dumpster fire. No Man’s Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 managed full-scale rebounds. However, his vision of an ongoing episodic adventure or “Roblox-like” experience is likely off the table. Even if MindsEye gets fixed, players will likely think twice before investing in future episodes. Although, who knows? A Roblox-like community of modders could actually salvage the game.

Parallel Studios, the developer behind the sci-fi card game Parallel TCG, has officially announced its latest project, Sanctuary, a third-person extraction shooter previously known as Project Tau Ceti.

Whilst the trailer does not feature gameplay footage, it establishes the atmosphere of the game, showing a lone soldier scavenging supplies and gazing at the sky, possibly hinting at themes of survival and escape. The game’s focus on resource extraction and combat suggests that players will have to strategise how to collect valuable materials whilst navigating potentially dangerous encounters.

Alongside this announcement, the studio also confirmed that Parallel TCG will soon be available on mobile devices.

What is Sanctuary?

Originally developed as a side project under the codename Project Tau Ceti, Sanctuary has evolved into a primary focus for Parallel Studios.

It is designed as an extraction shooter that incorporates both PvE and PvP combat where players will explore hazardous environments, collecting materials that can be extracted for use in upgrading equipment or possibly trading within the game’s ecosystem.

The game will be powered by Echelon Prime, integrated into the broader Parallel universe and will operate on the B3 blockchain—built on the Base network. Unlike Parallel TCG, which is a strategic card game, Sanctuary will provide an action-oriented experience.

What can we expect from the game?

The cinematic trailer provides a glimpse into the setting and themes of Sanctuary, depicting a soldier navigating a barren battlefield, scavenging a crate for supplies, and looking skyward. Whilst the footage does not confirm gameplay mechanics, it aligns with the game’s core premise of survival and resource extraction.

Earlier footage from September 2024 hinted at looting mechanics and the potential for both PvE and PvP engagements. Players may need to balance gathering resources with avoiding or confronting opponents in contested areas. The risk-reward dynamic suggests that extraction will play a crucial role in gameplay, as players must decide when to leave with their collected materials or stay longer in hopes of greater rewards.

Alongside Sanctuary, Parallel Studios also announced updates for Parallel TCG, including its upcoming mobile launch. Pre-registration for iOS and Android users is currently open.

With no official release date confirmed for Sanctuary, more details on gameplay and blockchain integration are expected in the coming months.