A new techno-thriller third-person shooter, MindsEye, is poised for a surprisingly quiet launch in just a few weeks, evoking visuals reminiscent of the Xbox 360 era. What makes this seemingly under-the-radar title noteworthy isn’t just its director – Leslie Benzies, a veteran Rockstar Games producer and lead designer on Grand Theft Auto 5 – but its incredibly ambitious decade-spanning plan heavily reliant on user-generated content (UGC).
Despite its impending June 10 release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, MindsEye has generated remarkably little fanfare. This is particularly striking given Benzies’ pedigree and the game’s grand vision to evolve far beyond its initial offering.
A Universe Built by You (Eventually)
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Benzies detailed the dual approach to content. The studio, Build A Rocket Boy, will provide continuous new content through “Play.MindsEye”. However, the long-term vitality hinges on “Build.MindsEye”, a toolset empowering players to craft their own worlds and experiences.
“Some of the content, like races, are made just for fun,” Benzies explained. “But [with] most of the content, we’ll try and incorporate it into the story. So once you’ve played the big overarching ten-year plan, you’ll have a very good idea of what this universe looks like.”
MindsEye itself began life as a spin-off of Everywhere, a much-hyped MMO metaverse concept that helped Benzies’ studio secure nearly $40 million in funding. That larger project has since receded, with MindsEye now launching as a conventional $60 single-player game, published by Hitman creators IO Interactive. The initial experience is described as a 20-hour linear campaign following an ex-soldier with amnesia in a fictional Las Vegas.
The Roblox-Inspired Future: Lofty Goals and Monetization Questions
While the game kicks off as a contained single-player narrative, the post-launch roadmap is where things get particularly ambitious – and perhaps, a little hazy. Benzies outlined plans to “add multiplayer, [and] we have plans to make a full open world.” Crucially, he added, “And of course, we’ve also got to look at what players are creating, and incorporate that into our plans… Hopefully some will create compelling content we can then promote and make that part of our plans to push to other players.”
The ambition for Build.MindsEye is to strike a balance between the expansive but complex tools of Roblox and the simpler, more accessible nature of Minecraft. “The dream from the building side is to allow players the opportunity to create their own multiplayer open world games with ease,” Benzies stated, envisioning players seamlessly building numerous missions to construct their own open-world experiences.
However, this UGC-driven future comes with caveats. The game is a full-priced $60 title, and a paid premium pass will be required to access some of the additional post-launch content. This raises questions about the model, especially with the source article noting it “sounds an awful lot like Roblox-style exploitation is part of the model,” a platform where creator revenue sharing is a complex topic (though Epic Games has notably paid out over $300 million to Fortnite creators).
Can UGC Rescue a Quiet Contender?
The success of MindsEye seems to bank heavily on its player base not only engaging with the initial game but also becoming active creators. These are lofty goals for a brand-new IP from a first-time studio, even one headed by an industry heavyweight.
If the core 20-hour campaign and fundamental gameplay of MindsEye deliver a solid, engaging experience, then perhaps its grand UGC vision has a fighting chance. But if the initial offering stumbles or feels as generic as its first impressions suggest, it’s doubtful that the promise of user-generated content alone will be enough to secure its ambitious decade-long future in an already crowded market.
