MindsEye developer Build A Rocket Boy has released Update 4 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, insisting it remains “committed to refining” the game following its disastrous launch.

In July, IGN reported that Edinburgh-based BARB had issued at-risk of redundancy emails to its around 300-strong UK workforce after MindsEye flopped at release.

Soon after MindsEye came out, BARB said it was “heartbroken” over the issues players had faced with the game, and promised to release a series of patches to fix the significant performance problems, glitches, and AI behavior bugs.

All the while, MindsEye’s troubled launch saw the developer cancel sponsored streams, with reports of players securing refunds even from the normally stubborn Sony. Steam concurrent player numbers, which do not tell the whole story of a game’s popularity, were worryingly low.

Story-driven action adventure game MindsEye was initially designed to be a part of Everywhere, the ‘Roblox for adults’ creation platform led by former Grand Theft Auto design chief Leslie Benzies. BARB eventually switched to focus on MindsEye, but it has so-far failed to do the business for the company.

In July, Benzies told staff that the studio would bounce back and relaunch MindsEye, blaming its struggles on internal and external saboteurs, among other things.

In a post to the MindsEye community issued today, September 5, BARB said “we remain committed to refining MindsEye and enhancing the gameplay experience. Ongoing updates will continue to be shared.”

To that end, Update 4 introduces a range of UX improvements, numerous performance enhancements, and tackles bugs. Update 4 is significant in terms of size, weighing in at 15GB on PC, 7.2GB on PS5, and 12.1GB on Xbox Series X and S. Update 5 will deliver a “major” performance, combat and enemy AI system improvement, BARB teased.

This week, the CEO of MindsEye publisher IO Interactive, which is working on 007 First Light, responded to the game’s launch, telling IGN: “that was definitely tough, right?”

The question now is whether BARB can save MindsEye by encouraging players not just to come back to the game, but to actually buy it.

MindsEye Update 4 Patch notes:

IMPROVEMENTS

Environment

• Trailer Tanks in Free Roam now explode when shot at
• Several improvements have been made to architecture and assets to help with performance
• Improved weather change when player leaves the Factory at the start of Robin Hood Mission
• Improved traversal on A New Job and Loose Ends missions where player may get stuck in certain assets

Visual Effects

• Cutscene VFX performance improvements
• Cutscene VFX management changes and Niagara system updates to reduce CPU spikes and overall frame rate
• Disabled ambient rubbish to improve performance

NPC

• Small performance improvement on Robots
• NPCs that are aiming and in-cover now look more natural

Art

• General performance improvements: shaders, assets, collisions

UI

• Resolved inconsistent dropdown menu behaviour in graphics settings, ensuring reliable input response
• Added the ability to skip cinematics

Audio

• Audio Optimisation regarding Mass Vehicles
• Music adjustments throughout MindsEye missions
• Added Destruction SFX on Glass Bottle Props

Missions

• Conditional dialogue now triggers with more natural pacing
• The companion drone torch is now automatically enabled when entering or starting in dark areas

Animation

• Optimised the ambient and civilian animations
• Exit/entry animations no longer play for driverless vehicles

Gameplay

• Aim assist will focus on enemies in vehicle turrets over the driver

BUG FIXES

• Various Mission flow bug fixes
• Fixed pixelated reflection in Rocket Transporter window
• Fixed Industrial vent asset to help with performance
• Resolved an issue where players transitioning from Meeting Marco Silva to Executive Paranoia could drive through objects and fall through the map
• Fixed ambient animation glitches in Welcome to Redrock City
• Fixed an issue where camera rotation was lost after cutscenes
• Several lighting LOD pop issues fixed in cutscenes
• Fixed a bug where burning vehicles wouldn’t transition to destroyed state
• Fixed several traversal issues in world where the player may get stuck
• Fixed an issue in The Ziggurat where a hole in wall allowed players to climb through and trap themselves
• Fixed an issue in Oh Lily! where players could get stuck in Morrison’s Silo without a way to get back out
• Fixed collision on glass roof of Silva Factory
• Fixed a number of Character Model issues in cutscenes that made them look deformed and stretched for a few frames
• Resolved Silva’s teeth looking too bright on medium/ lower settings on PC
• NPCs no longer freeze when interacting with certain objects
• Weapon Wheel hover SFX is now triggered correctly, without delays

PC only

• The character Red Sand Male 25 is now available for use in Build.MindsEye
• Fixed a UI issue where backing out of a submenu in ‘Build’ caused the second-last selected tile to remain highlighted
• Fixed a bug where the ‘effects’ tile would remain highlighted after returning to Build mode from Play mode
• Fixed an issue where the placement header text overlapped UI elements in the asset settings menu when playing in French
• Fixed a bug causing specific Korean characters to appear invisible in vehicle spawner labels
• Fixed a localization issue where the French translation of “Total PI” overlapped with the performance impact number in the top toolbar
• Replaced the incorrect icon used for the MindsEye menu button in Play/ Build with a proper menu icon
• [Min Spec Performance Improvement]: Disabled Nanite compute materials as it has a negative effect on GPU rendering time in our game, especially on older Nvidia Graphics Cards.
• [Min Spec Performance Improvement]: Fixed an issue where our Nanite render pipeline always used the Hardware Rasterizer path rather than correctly splitting between Hardware Rasterizer and Software Rasterizer

Console only – PlayStation and Xbox

• Fixed a UI focus issue where the graphics settings tab failed to auto-focus on the first option when accessed on PS5 and Xbox

BUILD.MINDSEYE PATCH NOTES – PC ONLY

IMPROVEMENTS

Publishing UGC Content

• Added a toggle to enable or disable Logic Nodes from being captured in the thumbnail capture of UGC Content

Logic Nodes

• Timer Nodes improved; you can update or refresh their value at any time through multiple other logic nodes, and can now be refreshed infinitely
• Timer Logic Nodes now support decimal places up to .000
• Custom UI Nodes updated to always be set to “Node Active” = True, by default

Attributes Menu, Catalogue & Versioning

• Minor QoL & screen position improvements to the Creator HUD, Attributes Menu & Tools
• Minor QoL improvements to naming, duplicated items, missing thumbnails or icons in the Assets Catalogue
• Updated the search functionality in Assets Catalogue to take into account both object name and the tags
• Added a warning when the player reaches the maximum number of allowed versions when creating new versions
• Added missing hotkeys to the Controls Panel for Inserting Path Points

Featured Stamps Updates

• Multiple fixes and QoL improvements to existing set of Featured Stamps
• Added more Stamps to the Featured Stamps tile

BUG FIXES

• Removed EVERYWHERE vehicles from Build.MindsEye – those vehicles were made accessible unofficially, and we will bring them to MindsEye when they are ready
• Fixed an issue where the AI Spawner Spawn limits and Performance Scores of spawners were not correctly calculated
• New Performance Score applied to AI Spawners as follows:

1. AI Spawner – Performance Score: 10 / Max Quantity Allowed: 10
2. Individual AI NPC – Performance Score: 6 / Max Quantity Allowed: 100

• Fixed an incorrect controls description for Build Collision Control List Keys; now correctly displayed as (B) instead of (P)
• Improved camera behaviour in Build.MindsEye: your last position is now saved more frequently for a more reliable creation experience
• Fixed an issue with erratic camera behaviour when using the Group Macro Node
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to like Stamps with long names
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from editing Stamp Descriptions that exceed the 220 character limit
• Fixed an issue that caused vehicles to move very slowly, or not at all, when using Custom Speed on the Drive To Node
• Grid snapping is now enabled on the XY Plane by default
• Fixed an issue with Destructible Assets not being selectable
• Fixed issues with Filtering in the Assets Catalogue
• Fixed various issues with the Vehicle Selection UI Node
• Fixed multiple issues with the Transform Variable Node and Advanced Transform Node parsing incorrect values into the Location and Scale Overrides
• Stamp Attributes now display the correct Thumbnail based on the current Version selected
• Fixed various issues with spawn-points and spawning in Build.MindsEye
• Fixed various issues with the Physics Force Node causing objects to disappear
• Fixed an issue where Foliage Assets were not searchable in the Catalogue
• Fixed a crash caused when attempting to ungroup a group within a group
• Fixed a crash caused by undoing creation and deletion of large Stamps
• Fixed an issue with some deprecated assets being displayed in the library – which were discernible by having “DONOTUSE” in their name
• Fixed texture issues on a number of assets in the Build.MindsEye Catalogue
• Fixed an issue with missing Localisations for the Light Effects in Build.MindsEye

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The splash damage caused by Hollow Knight: Silksong’s massive launch impact has spread beyond huge Steam concurrents and struggling storefronts to the parts of the internet where video game pirates hang out — and there something interesting is happening: the pirates are urging each other to buy the game instead of downloading the cracked version.

Team Cherry’s hotly anticipated Hollow Knight sequel finally came out on September 4, 2025 priced $20, six years after it was announced, and instantly crashed storefronts including Steam.

As the storefronts recovered, player numbers swelled to the point where Silksong hit an incredible launch day peak of 535,213 concurrent players on Steam, enough to make it the 18th most-played game ever on Valve’s platform. The true player count across all platforms will be much higher.

Silksong also launched DRM-free on GOG, so it was no surprise to see a cracked version available to download in the hours after launch. What was a surprise was the response from some veteran video game pirates, who urged their peers to support Team Cherry and buy the game instead.

“First game I’ve bought day of release in a decade probably,” said pyrokzg on the piracy subreddit in response to a thread upvoted 7,000 times. “Not even the decade for me. It’s the very first,” added Vamsi-Thopu.

So, why is this happening? Clearly, there is a huge amount of goodwill from across the internet directed at Team Cherry, the small indie developer that saw the original Hollow Knight blow up to such an extent that it was able to take its merry time with this ambitious sequel.

But there’s also a feeling that Team Cherry does things the right way. For a start, there’s a DRM-free version available at launch, but the Australian studio was also keen to honor the promises it made with its original Hollow Knight Kickstarter all those years ago. There’s even a free upgrade for the Nintendo Switch 2 version. In short, Team Cherry are the good guys, and the feeling is they deserve their success.

“It’s a 3-4 person team that has done right by their fans at every turn,” said No-Shape6053, also on the piracy subreddit. “Making sure the PC release is DRM free. Making sure all original backers of Hollow Knight get Silksong free on their choice of platform. This is a time where if we can afford to support them, we should.”

“Support the devs if you can, they deserve it,” added iTzNowbie. There’s plenty more where that came from, too. “The only game I will feel bad if I ever pirated it,” said beastfire24. “Hey the game is pretty cheap. This one, we should not pirate,” said Sythrin.

Interestingly, some have expressed surprise at the collective urge not to pirate Silksong, which itself prompted a discussion about why this is happening with Silksong but hasn’t happened with similarly beloved indie games in the past.

“Usually people here claim that the title, price, or the indie status makes no difference to them, but I guess that Silksong is just that respected,” offered MixaLv.

“I’m surprised too,” added ALIIERTx. “Many times people are like, ‘I don’t care if I pirate from indie developer,’ but on this one everyone is pretty defensive against piracy. I’m fascinated.”

Responses to this reinforce the Team Cherry angle. “Team Cherry has built themselves an amazing reputation,” suggested Someone_Existing_1. “Because they’re only a three-person studio, they can keep their games super cheap due to far less employees needing pay. Also they aren’t greedy f***s like most companies, so their DLCs are all free and there’s no microtransactions or online-only bulls**t.”

Be sure to check out IGN’s Silksong coverage, which includes the story of the superfan behind the YouTube Channel Daily Silksong News, who can finally rest after an incredible 1,693 days of videos.

Starting out Silksong? Here’s how to unlock and use the map, how to get Rosary Beads, the Achievements and Trophies list, and our ever expanding Silksong Interactive Map. Also, you may need the Bell Beast boss fight guide. It’s a hard one!

Be sure to stay up-to-date with all the latest from IGN by clicking here and setting IGN as a preferred source in Google.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Most of the time, a game based on a successful manga is made after the anime adaptation has been airing for some time, but that wasn’t the case with Kaiju No. 8 The Game. (You can read our hands-on impressions here, by the way.) It tells its own story within creator Naoya Matsumoto’s world, as well as referencing pivotal events from the mainline narrative, and is one of the rare instances in which the game and anime were being developed in parallel.

“When this game began its development, the manga was only getting started,” says Kaiju No. 8 The Game’s Producer Shinya Fujita. “So there was still a lot of information that we didn’t know yet. And also at the same time, the manga was to be adapted into an anime as well. So this made it very difficult.”

The team started working on Kaiju No. 8 The Game more than two years ago, and the anime only started airing in mid-April last year. This meant that the game development team and the anime production effort (which involved both Production I.G and Studio Khara) were both exploring what this world would look like in action and how best to bring the characters – and kaiju – to life.

Akatsuki Games “often referred to the manga for unreleased characters, weapons, and locations,” reflects Fujita. The team also had access to Naoya Matsumoto, the writer and illustrator of the manga, and “his advice and support were crucial,” confirms Fujita, who goes on to say that he was “surprised by his deep knowledge of game development and respect for the process.”

That’s not to say that Akatsuki Games was disconnected from the anime. As its production moved ahead, the team were able to work with both studios on specific things. Fujita says that while his team looked to the manga for their character designs, they received invaluable help for the weapon designs from Production I.G, who “were able to create references that were very detailed and easy to understand”, and leveraged the expertise they’d gleaned from the likes of Ghost in the Shell. The team also received references for kaiju designs from Studio Khara, which had been brought onboard to oversee the kaiju designs in the anime; a natural fit given this is the studio established by Hideki Anno and responsible for the Rebuild of Evangelion films.

The work on background designs also lined up with the anime. “We received a lot of art boards from Production I.G,” says 3D Artist Kazushi Matsumoto. “Every day we’d be checking what the new materials were. In the early stages sometimes we’d find that our 3D design didn’t match the art board so we’d have to remake it. It’s not like we had all the reference material we needed in the first place – we had to work closely with Production I.G. In the case that we had exactly the same location as the anime, we’d have Production I.G review our designs as well.”

One area that was completely separate, however, was the audio side of the game. “I deeply admire the anime’s exceptional music,” says Sound Artist Yasuaki Iwata, “and the sound team is inspired by the anime’s music and takes a reference [from it] while creating entirely new compositions tailored specifically for the game experience.”

“Since music strongly reflects a composer’s individuality,” adds Sound Director Mitsuhiro Hikino, “we carefully structured our team. We were fortunate to have experienced game composers with extensive game experience and theatrical music composers who excel at creating music that complements visuals… We centered our music around genres like Japanese digital rock and used instrumentation familiar to fans of the IP and its culture. We deliberately kept melodies subtle to prevent the music from overpowering the experience, instead allowing it to complement and enhance the impressive visuals.”

Producing work that stands up next to the excellent anime was obviously important to the team, but so too was ensuring that the manga’s author, Naoya Matsumoto, was happy with their vision for his world. And sometimes that meant changing tack. Japanese mobile games often have provocative new outfits for their characters that players can acquire through their gacha system, incentivising them to invest more time and/or money in the game.

“Sexy costumes… [are] pretty common in the Japanese mobile game industry,” says Art Director Yuya Kuroyabu. “When we proposed this plan, Matsumoto-sensei said ‘well, no – this [approach] is not for this IP.’ So we studied the IP concept again and tried to come up with some unique designs for this game.” The upshot is that the character outfits stay true to the fact that they’re all soldiers in the Japan Anti-Kaiju Defense Force or CLOZER (a specialised military outfit central to the story), keeping this game more closely aligned with the manga and anime, and reworking the concept of ‘fan service’ in the process. “The essence of the design,” concludes Kuroyabu, “is the military style.”

Most important of all, however, was getting Matsumoto’s blessing for Kaiju No. 8 The Game’s original storyline. It takes place at a specific time in the manga and anime’s arc, and features all the main characters. “We, the game developers, proposed ideas [to Matsumoto-sensei],” Producer Shinya Fujita explains. “We wanted to create a unique setting for the game,” so came up with the concept that Kaiju Dimensional Gates were opening up around the globe, triggering an all-in response from anti-kaiju forces. “Then, building on to the Kaiju Dimensional Gate setting,” Fujita continues, “we created the original story and then created the character Sagan Shinomiya.”