“Just when I thought I was out,” Al Pacino hissed in The Godfather Part 3, “they pull me back in!” I’m starting to feel that way about MindsEye, the infamously bad action game from Build a Rocket Boy: I played it, I had an accidental good time, the expansion was abysmally bad, and it was over. But now, for suitably bizarre reasons, it’s back in my life.
We’re talking about MindsEye today because, as reported by Eurogamer, Build a Rocket Boy is bringing in an unknown number of community members for an on-site playtest at its studio in Edinburgh. And by “bringing in,” I mean the studio is paying for their flights to Scotland, two nights’ accommodations, and flights back home. I would guess that at least one meal is also being covered, given that attendees will take part in a meet-and-greet with Build a Rocket Boy staff.
How bizarre, I thought to myself, particularly given the game’s minuscule player numbers. What could Build a Rocket Boy possibly have to show that justifies an in-person event, and more to the point, why would anyone care?
But one group cares very much: Build a Rocket Boy developers. The studio is holding this event, and more to the point paying for round-trip flights and hotel rooms, after repeated rounds of layoffs—the most recent in May—that left the studio gutted, and that just doesn’t sit right with at least some of the workers at the studio. So they’re going to protest the playtest at Build a Rocket Boy headquarters this Saturday, July 11, while the playtest is happening.