In early 2026, employees at Build a Rocket Boy discovered monitoring software on their work computers. They discovered it because their machines were running slow. The software was called Teramind. It logs keystrokes, records screen activity, and captures microphone audio. The computers were in employees' homes.

Build a Rocket Boy co-CEOs Mark Gerhard and Leslie Benzies confirmed the installation in an internal meeting that was subsequently leaked. Forty employees filed a collective grievance. The software was removed in March 2026. BARB has not disclosed what data was collected, how it was stored, or why the software was installed.

On April 21, 2026, the IWGB Game Workers Union filed legal proceedings. Separately, on April 12, the union filed additional claims over BARB's handling of the 300 redundancies made in July 2025. Those claims include allegations of unlawful blacklisting, failure to engage in collective consultation, and detrimental treatment of workers.

That's the situation. Everything else is interpretation.

What Is Confirmed

The facts not in dispute:

Teramind was installed on employee devices. Gerhard and Benzies confirmed this themselves in the leaked internal meeting. The software captures keystrokes, screen activity, and microphone audio — this is what the product does by design, per Teramind's own documentation. The devices were in employees' homes, because BARB operates with remote workers.

The software was removed in March 2026 following the collective grievance. BARB has not addressed what was collected or why installation happened without disclosure.

Legal proceedings are active through ACAS and the Information Commissioner's Office. The ICO is the UK's data protection regulator, with authority to investigate and fine under UK GDPR. These are not small claims. The separate redundancy legal action, per the IWGB, "could cost BARB millions" if successful.

IO Interactive ended its publishing partnership with BARB on March 16, 2026. The Hitman crossover mission, announced as part of MindsEye's post-launch roadmap, was cancelled as a direct result. BARB now holds sole publishing responsibilities for a game that, as of last reported figures, had fewer than 20 concurrent players on Steam within a month of launch.

What Gerhard Said, and What It Means Legally

In the leaked internal meeting, Gerhard acknowledged the "confusion, upset, perhaps even mistrust" the rollout had caused. His stated rationale: "I think it goes without saying that we can trust 99.9 percent of this business. The problem is it's the one percent. That is the problem."

Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, employers may monitor workers if the monitoring is proportionate, transparent, and has a clearly documented legal basis. Article 13 of UK GDPR requires employers to proactively inform workers about data processing — before it happens, not after a grievance forces the issue.

The legal question is not whether Teramind can do what it does. It can, and it did. The question is whether covertly installing audio-capturing software on devices inside employees' private residences, to address a suspected minority, satisfies proportionality and transparency requirements. Legal analysts have noted it likely does not. The ICO will determine whether it did.

BARB's silence since the legal filing is not unusual during active proceedings. It is also not exculpatory.

The Sabotage Context

The Teramind installation did not occur in isolation. Understanding why it was installed requires the surrounding timeline.

May 2025: Two weeks before launch, Gerhard claims in a Discord Q&A that negative pre-release coverage is a "paid campaign by a third-party."

June 2025: MindsEye launches to 28/100 on Metacritic (PS5). PlayStation issues refunds within days. Concurrent players drop below 20 within a month. Gerhard's internal projections had anticipated 500,000 PC sales in the first month. Actual sales: approximately 160,000 units total across all platforms, per Decode sources with access to internal data.

July 2025: Benzies tells staff that "internal and external forces" were sabotaging the project. One week later, 300 employees receive redundancy notices.

October 2025: 93 former employees sign an open letter. The IWGB files initial legal claims over the redundancy handling.

January 2026: In an internal meeting, Gerhard claims BARB has identified a €1 million coordinated sabotage campaign involving a "very big American company," a UK agency called Ritual Network, paid influencers, journalists, and BARB employees. No arrests have been made. No public court filings presenting this evidence have been filed. Gerhard also confirms Teramind's installation in the same meeting.

In that same meeting, Gerhard stated: "We're gonna put some of these names into our upcoming spy mission. And let's have some fun with it. Let's tell the community the story before it even plays out in court." The names he referenced include former employees. Some of those former employees are now among those filing legal claims against the studio.

Whether publicly naming individuals in a video game as alleged saboteurs, before any court has made findings, constitutes detriment under UK employment law is one of the questions the proceedings may address.

February 2026: Benzies is named in documents from the US Department of Justice's Epstein files release. Sarah Ransome, a recognized Epstein victim, alleges Benzies sexually assaulted her. Benzies denies the allegations and any connection to Epstein: "These allegations are false. I had a three-month consensual relationship with this person, and I have never met Jeffrey Epstein, nor have I ever visited his island, his properties or travelled on his plane." Benzies went on leave and has since returned to active duties.

March 2026: IO Interactive formally ends its publishing deal with BARB.

April 2026: Legal action filed over Teramind. Redundancy claims escalate through formal channels.

The Employee Record

Seven employees told the BBC there was no coherent vision for MindsEye's development. Seven separate employees told Decode the same thing, with internal documents supporting their accounts. Lead cinematic animator Chris Wilson, an IWGB member, said: "Build A Rocket Boy's toxic culture of secrecy and micromanaging is one of the worst I've seen in a 20-year career in the gaming industry."

In October 2025, 93 former BARB employees signed an open letter citing unbearable overtime, mismanagement, and a dismissal of concerns raised internally.

These are not anonymous complaints. They are named individuals, on the record, across two independent investigations and a signed public document.

BARB's statement at the time of the open letter: they "didn't anticipate having to make redundancies after launch, but approached the process with care and transparency, meeting all our obligations." The union's legal claims assert otherwise. Courts will determine which account the evidence supports.

The Case for Skepticism

BARB has not presented its full position publicly. Legal proceedings are active, and silence from the company under those circumstances is a standard legal posture, not an admission.

The IWGB is an interested party in litigation. Its public statements are advocacy. The core facts — installation, audio capability, covert deployment — are confirmed. The legal conclusions the union draws from those facts are not yet adjudicated.

The sabotage claims are unproven. They are not disproven. Leaks from internal meetings did occur — the Teramind meeting itself was leaked. Whether those leaks were part of a coordinated campaign against the studio or employees speaking to press about workplace conditions they found unacceptable is not established. Gerhard's €1 million conspiracy narrative has not been supported by court filings or arrests, but that could change. If it does, the story changes with it.

No court has ruled on any of the live claims.

What the Record Shows Without Interpretation

MindsEye was one of the lowest-rated major releases of 2025. Internal sales projections were not met by a significant margin. The studio reduced its workforce by approximately 75 percent. Its publisher ended the partnership. A planned Hitman crossover was cancelled. Two sets of legal proceedings have been filed by its own former and current workers. The co-founder is facing unrelated allegations he denies. The studio is now self-publishing a game with no confirmed player base recovery.

Lead cinematic animator Chris Wilson's assessment covers the Teramind situation specifically: "It can only be assumed this software was added as a part of their effort to micromanage us, a product of their mistrust of their employees. It created an atmosphere of unease, something that doesn't lead to great video game production."

BARB's position, as stated in various contexts, is that the studio was targeted by organized external sabotage and that measures to protect the company were necessary. No public evidence of that sabotage has been presented in any legal forum.

Both positions are in the record. The ICO and the employment tribunal will assess the evidence. Until then, both the surveillance and the sabotage claims remain exactly what they are: one confirmed by the people who did it, the other asserted by the people who allege it.

All claims attributed to named sources or official documents. Benzies denies the Ransome allegations. BARB declined to comment on the Teramind legal filings. The €1M sabotage claims remain unverified in any legal forum as of publication. No court has issued findings on any active claim.

Sources: IWGB press release (April 21, 2026). GamesIndustry, Kotaku, GameSpot, VGC, PC Gamer, Notebookcheck, Insider Gaming, Gamereactor (April 2026). Hollywood Reporter, Press & Journal (February 2026). IOI/BARB joint press release (March 17, 2026). BBC investigative reporting, Decode employee interviews (October 2025). Teramind official documentation. UK GDPR Article 13, Data Protection Act 2018.

Written by Mercer. All claims based on publicly verifiable data.