After raising $110M, Build A Rocket Boy lays off staff

Build A Rocket Boy has laid off an undetermined number of staff, just a little more than a month after announcing it had raised $110 million.

It’s an unfortunate move and will likely draw a lot of heat, as game workers are getting increasingly upset at mass layoffs in the industry. So far, 6,000 have been laid off in 2024, on top of 10,500 in 2023. At the recent Dice Awards, the subject of layoffs came up multiple times on stage.

Leslie Benzies, a former producer at Rockstar North, started the company in 2018. Benzies was one of the key leaders at Rockstar on Grand Theft Auto V. Build A Rocket Boy announced in 2022 that it was making a game called Everywhere, which is an ambitious life simulator.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the company said, “While we have made great progress developing our products, we are now in a position where we need to make changes to the way we work across our business in order to become a more agile studio and to meet the requirements that our projects demand.”

The spokesperson added, “To achieve that and refocus, we have taken the extremely difficult decision to propose the removal of a number of roles globally. This process is ongoing and we are working with those impacted at this difficult and challenging time.”

The company is also working on a set of user-generated content tools called Arcade and the first episode of a single-player narrative game Mindseye. The company declined to say how many people it laid off or how many remain at the firm.

RedBird Capital Partners led the funding round, with participation from Galaxy Interactive, NetEase Games, Endeavor, Alignment Growth, Woodline Partners LP and GTAM Partners.