Hakan Abrak, the CEO of IO Interactive, has cast doubt over the company’s future plans as a publisher following the troubled launch of Build A Rocket Boy‘s MindsEye.
Speaking with IGN, Abrak revealed that IO felt Build A Rocket Boy had a number of ‘great ideas’ and was eager to ‘help them distribute the game.’ However, as widely reported, MindsEye was plagued by a number of major technical issues that resulted in the game receiving a critical mauling and overwhelming negative feedback from players on social media.
We thought they had some great ideas and a great world in the background that they were building, and hopefully they’ll get the opportunity to show more of that in the future. And we just wanted to help them distribute the game. Well, that was definitely tough, right? It was a tough reception. It wasn’t what they hoped for, and also what we didn’t hope for at IOI Partners. They’re working hard on turning that around to regain the trust of the gamers out there, and they have tons of potential and content they’re working on. So hopefully they’ll succeed with that in the future.
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However, when asked whether or not IO would continue to publish other studios’ games, he replied: “IO Interactive will publish our own games internally. IOI Partners? That remains to be seen.”
In late June, Build A Rocket Boy revealed that it had started a ‘consultation process that may result in redundancies,’ and the following month its CEO Leslie Benzies reportedly stated that the studio intends to relaunch MindsEye at some point down the line.
Meanwhile, IO Interactive is currently working on the James Bond title 007 First Light, which it yesterday confirmed will launch for PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S on March 27, 2026.