The company which former Rockstar North director, Leslie Benzies, established in 2018, is now in administration.
A notice on Companies House confirms that an administrator has been appointed, and although it will take time for the details to be announced formally, it is understood the officials appointed are Allister Manson and Mark Harper of Opus Business Advisory Group.
This follows a period when as many as 300 people are said to have been made redundant at Build a Rocket Boy Limited which has been developing a single product called Mindseye. Some key people previously employed at the company have recorded that they are “open to work? on LinkedIn.
In a statement released on LinkedIn six months ago, the company’s CEO, Mark Gerhard, admitted that the company was downsizing with a number of redundancies, but mentioned “corporate sabotage” and possible prosecution.
The company’s Mindseye game was poorly received by gamers on release last year with staff signing an open letter saying that management would not listen to their advice, and consequently many updates had to be made to the game.
As the company is now in administration, it could be sold as a going concern, or some form of rescue package might be found. The main company assets are the intellectual property of the new games in development, the former casino property in Leith which the company occupied and any codebase and development tools which could be repurposed.
The company’s group accounts were published in July 2026, saying that “significant progress was achieved” in Mindseye, a story driven action adventure, and Arcadia, a suite of user friendly creation tools enabling players to design and share missions, modes and environments with friends. But, Leslie Benzies admitted in the most recent accounts lodged at Companies House that the launch of Mindseye “presented challenges”, and that “several major updates” were released after the launch “contributing to steadily improving sentiment and feedback from the player community”.
When Mindseye was released Mr Benzies said: “I don’t think we could have worked longer, harder, or put as much blood and guts, sweat into it. The launch of our first game, MindsEye, is available now. It’s a moment that reflects the effort, creativity, and ambition of everyone at Build A Rocket Boy.”
Leslie Benzies left Rockstar North between 2014 and 2016, although it took around five years before he settled a dispute over Grand Theft Auto royalties with the company. He was lead developer on the game which was an enormous success. In 2014 he purchased the Grade A listed St Stephen’s Church for a reported £500,000, but that was sold in 2017 to Peter Schaufuss, a former ballet dancer who brought Ian McKellen to perform there, naming one of the spaces after him. The 15,000-square-feet property designed by Playfair is now up for sale again.
The GTA designer used some of his payout to establish the Benzies Foundation – “a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Association (SCIO) established with the intention of encouraging and facilitating good health and fitness amongst Scottish communities”.
The Edinburgh Reporter also revealed that Mr Benzies bought a property on Portobello Prom, previously the Dalriada Hotel, with plans to convert the property into a house, although he has now sold it on. Read more here.
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