MindsEye was marketed as the sleek “next-gen action adventure” from Rockstar veteran Leslie Benzies. Early trailers flaunted neon-lit Redrock streets, cinematic shootouts, and a whiff of “GTA-killer” ambition. Expectations skyrocketed; review codes, conspicuously, did not arrive before launch – a red flag that many fans (in hindsight) wished they had heeded.
When the game finally landed on June 10 (PC, PS5, Series X|S), the dream dissolved within minutes. Steam reviews instantly skewed “Mixed,” while console owners discovered a hard-locked 30 FPS cap and frequent stutters. Twitter/X erupted with clips of melting faces and suicidal A.I. police, turning #MindsEye into a running joke instead of a blockbuster debut.
| Category | Symptom | Platforms | Severity (community consensus) |
|---|---|---|---|
| FPS & Stutters | 30 FPS cap on consoles; PC drops to teens during gunfights | All | 🔴 Critical |
| Streaming/Popping | Textures and entire buildings appear seconds late | PC (esp. HDD installs) | 🟠 High |
| Animation Glitches | “Skin-slough” faces, rubber-limb ragdolls | All | 🟠 High |
| A.I. Logic | NPCs shoot skyward, walk into traffic, or loop suicide animations | All | 🟡 Moderate |
| Crashes | Hard locks when entering vehicles or opening the map | PC (DX12) | 🔴 Critical |
Clips of an NPC stretching like taffy after being hit by an SUV or police squads evaporating mid-gunfight now populate every social feed. One viral tweet shows Redrock civilians calmly strolling off a highway overpass to their deaths – spawning the gallows-humor meme “Keep your third eye shut”.
• Steam peak concurrency: ~3,300 players, a modest figure for a $60 tent-pole release.
• User review split (48 h post-launch): ≈58 % Negative (Steam).
• Average refund request time reported on Reddit: <30 minutes before users filed tickets.
Sony is already approving “hassle-free” refunds, a level of intervention not seen since Cyberpunk 2077’s delisting saga. Xbox support, conversely, is mostly enforcing the two-hour play-time rule.
Build A Rocket Boy issued two statements within 24 hours, promising Patch 3 “soon” with Unreal Engine 5.6 optimizations and broader hardware support. Key talking points:
- Texture streaming overhaul to cut GPU memory spikes.
- Animation graph fixes for NPC “bone scaling” bugs.
- Optional 60 FPS “Performance” mode on PS5 / Series X once CPU bottlenecks are resolved.
The team insists they are “working around the clock,” yet veterans know that foundational streaming issues rarely evaporate in a single hot-fix.
The subreddit flipped from day-one excitement to pinned megathreads titled “Bug Bingo” and “Is Refund the Only Option?”. Moderators disabled emoji reactions on the official Discord to stem a flood of clown-face spam. Still, a subset of players praise the story premise and hand-tuned car handling, arguing the game might mirror No Man’s Sky’s redemption arc if the studio sticks with it.
What’s Next
• Patch 3 ETA: The studio promises timing “within 24 h” of its last statement; expect a small PC hot-fix first, then a multi-GB console patch requiring certification.
• Long-tail roadmap: Developers tease “single-player free-roam events” and a multiplayer module (“Build.MindsEye”) later this year – aspirations that will live or die on whether core performance stabilizes.
• Possible PR pivot: Insider chatter hints the publisher may drop the $59.99 price to $39.99 alongside the performance patch to lure back goodwill (unconfirmed).
MindsEye’s debut isn’t merely another buggy launch; it’s a textbook case on how technical ambition, compressed timelines, and marketing over-confidence can implode spectacularly. For now, the smartest play is patience. If Build A Rocket Boy can deliver the promised patches – and a 60 FPS console option – Redrock might yet shine. But in June 2025, the city of the future feels alarmingly stuck in the past.
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