The co-CEO of the developer of upcoming game MindsEye claimed two weeks ago that there is a “concerted effort” to “trash the game and the studio,” and suggested people were being paid to say negative things about the game online. But when asked, the CEO of Hitman developer IO Interactive, which is publishing the game, said that he doesn’t believe that’s happening.
This saga began as part of the lead-up to the release of MindsEye on June 10, which has garnered no small amount of negative feedback from those who have been following it pre-release. During a Q&A over the game’s official Discord two weeks ago, developer Build a Rocket Boy co-CEO Mark Gerhard was asked: “Do you think that all the people who reacted negatively were financed by someone?”
“100%,” Gerhard responded, before adding: “Doesn’t take much to guess who 🤣”
The conversation continued, with many expressing surprise at this response and one person saying: “A co-CEO for a studio implying another studio is paying previewers to talk negatively about your game is an absolutely wild comment to make in a public environment in any situation.” Gerhard replied: “Not wild when its [sic] true…..”
With this accusation hanging in the air, I spoke to IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak this past weekend in the wake of the company’s showcase featuring 007: First Light, Hitman, and MindsEye, which IOI is publishing. Two weeks ago, IOI declined to respond to a request for comment on the situation. But during that interview, I asked Abrak outright if he thought the accusation was true.
He responded: “I don’t know. I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that. I just think the game should speak for itself on June the 10th.”
Abrak did not say more on the subject, though he did respond briefly to the increasing negative comments about MindsEye now that it has broken its street date. “I think we should all wait ’til the 10th of June because it’s very normal these times that we all as developers keep on working on patches and working to the last minute. And there’s a lot of these things coming in. So I think that people should just wait until the release and have the best possible experience.”
We recently had game director Leslie Benzies on IGN Live to talk about MindsEye, specifically about plans for user-generated content in-game.
We’ll be publishing our full interview with Abrak later this week, including discussion of not just MindsEye, but also the future of the Hitman franchise and 007: First Light. MindsEye launches on June 10, 2025 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
