- The free MindsEye demo has performed horribly for the studio, reaching only 46 peak players on Steam.
- It has fewer than 30% positive reviews, with an overall rating of Mostly Negative on Steam.
- The results show that the game failed to make the comeback that studio executives envisioned.
Instead of being the GTA competitor many expected, MindsEye turned out to be a disaster of a launch this year. The game was riddled with bugs and optimization issues. The controversy was so bad that PlayStation stepped in to refund players in a rare move.
Since the game was promised 10 years of support, some were still hoping to jump into the experience after a variety of updates. Build a Rocket Boy launched a free demo on Steam over a week ago, but it seemingly flopped as badly as the original title, if not more.
Why it matters: The free demo was intended to push players into the original MindsEye, but it seems to have had an opposite effect. It was rated negatively and largely ignored by most of the gaming industry.
SteamDB shows the demo only attracted a 46 all-time peak, which is a devastating number for a free-to-play experience meant to convince fans to buy the original. Therefore, MindsEye’s last chance to make a significant recovery has ended.
The demo features a mission from the campaign and ARCADIA content to give players a taste of what’s featured in the original. However, the glitches and optimization issues are also a part of the free package, leading to a bombardment of negative reviews.
The demo is currently sitting at a Mostly Negative rating on Steam, with many comments recalling the same issues users experienced in the original. Only about 30% of the reviews are labeled as positive at the time of writing.
MindsEye was already crowned as 2025’s lowest-rated launch by critics, with its user rating being the second worst behind Black Ops 7. Therefore, former developers also are not expecting to make a Cyberpunk 2077-like comeback anytime soon.
Do you think MindsEye will see somewhat of a revival if future updates fix some of its glaring issues, or is the project already deemed a failure? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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