Leslie Benzies is on temporary leave from Build a Rocket Boy.

Mark Gerhard announced this in an email to staff, saying Benzies needs to "recharge after more than a year of working around the clock."

Then signed it as "CEO" instead of "co-CEO."

Which is... a choice.

What Led Here

MindsEye launched June 2025. Scored 28/100 on Metacritic. Sold roughly 160,000 copies against internal projections of 500,000.

July: Benzies blamed "saboteurs," fired 300 people a week later.

October: 93 former employees signed letter condemning leadership. Union sued for mishandling layoffs.

January 2026: Gerhard told staff they caught the saboteurs—€1M campaign by UK "gangsters," American corporations, bribed journalists. No evidence provided. No arrests.

February 3: Epstein files released. Sarah Ransome's witness list includes Benzies, alleges 2006 sexual assault. Benzies denies assault, confirms consensual relationship, says he never met Epstein.

Same day: YouTuber posts video about the files. Gerhard issues cease and desist, calls it "media manipulation." Video deleted.

Days later: Benzies on leave. Gerhard signs as CEO.

Industry Response

GamesIndustry.biz spoke with Build a Rocket Boy employees. One: "I don't think BARB survives this crisis. I believe the end is coming for BARB, and it's not heralded by saboteurs, but by Mark and Leslie themselves."

The Epstein Files

DOJ released Epstein documents February 3. Sarah Ransome's witness list includes Benzies. Alleges sexual assault 2006.

Benzies to Kotaku: "These allegations are false, I had a 3 months consensual relationship with this person, and I have never met Jeffrey Epstein."

Ransome's list is her compilation. Not federal findings.

Gerhard's Response

Hours after YouTuber Cyber Boi posted video about the files, Gerhard issued cease and desist on Discord. Accused him of "media manipulation, espionage, sabotage." Video deleted.

Still no evidence for the €1M sabotage claims. No arrests. No lawsuits filed.

My Assessment

The timeline: Benzies named in Epstein files February 3. Gerhard issues cease and desist to YouTuber covering it same day. Benzies on leave within the week. Gerhard's email signature changes from "co-CEO" to "CEO."

The numbers: £233M invested. 28/100 Metacritic. 160,000 copies sold against 500,000 projected. 300 employees laid off. 93 signed a public letter condemning leadership. Zero evidence produced for the €1M sabotage claims. Zero arrests. Zero lawsuits filed.

The pattern, and I've written about this before: blame critics (May 2025), blame saboteurs (July 2025), blame a €1M international conspiracy (January 2026), threaten YouTubers (February 2026), announce "temporary leave" (February 2026). At no point did leadership blame leadership.

Due process on the assault allegations matters. But the title change from "co-CEO" to "CEO" isn't a typo, it's a transition dressed as a leave of absence.

Nobody misspells their own job title.

Look, I should note, Ransome's witness list is her compilation, not federal findings. Benzies says it was consensual and he never met Epstein. That distinction matters legally and it should matter journalistically. I'm not collapsing the two.

What I am saying is that the timing of the "leave" and the title change are separate from the allegations and worth scrutiny on their own. Studios handle PR crises every week without accidentally promoting someone in the process.

One thing that genuinely bothers me about this whole saga: BARB employed 400+ people at peak. Real engineers, artists, designers who relocated to Edinburgh for this. The failure here isn't abstract, it's mortgages and career gaps and a Scottish dev scene that just lost one of its largest employers. That part doesn't get enough coverage.

I covered MindsEye's launch, the sabotage claims, the layoffs. At every stage there was a chance for leadership to just... be honest about what went wrong. They never took it. Not the failure itself, games fail. The refusal to own any of it.

Sources: GamesIndustry.biz, Insider Gaming, Kotaku, PC Gamer, The Gamer, RockstarINTEL, NotebookCheck, Aftermath, mxdwn Games, US Department of Justice (Epstein files), previous GameHazards reporting on MindsEye

Note: Epstein file allegations are from Sarah Ransome's witness list compilation, not findings from federal investigation. Benzies has denied sexual assault allegations and states he had no connection to Jeffrey Epstein. Build a Rocket Boy confirms Benzies remains employed at the studio. All claims about €1M sabotage conspiracy from Mark Gerhard's statements—no evidence has been provided publicly, no arrests made, no defendants named.