IO Interactive may no longer publish third-party titles after MindsEye's disastrous launch, CEO says

Earlier this year, Build a Rocket Boy’s MindsEye was met with mostly negative reviews due to lackluster gameplay, a weak narrative, and a slew of technical issues, which has caused IO Interactive to rethink its future publishing strategy.

The details:

• Back in June, MindsEye was released across consoles and PC as the debut title from Edinburgh-based Build a Rocket Boy, led by former Grand Theft Auto producer Leslie Benzies. The game was immediately met with criticism for failing in almost every area, particularly in terms of bugs, which ranged from minor inconveniences to outright game-breaking, prompting Sony to reportedly refund buyers, with the situation eventually leading to layoffs due to its poor commercial performance.
• In a new interview with IGN, CEO of the game’s publisher IO Interactive, Hakan Abrak, has commented on MindsEye’s launch, sharing that the company originally liked the ideas presented and wanted to “support” the new studio. "The initial talks we had with those guys were to support them," Abrak said. "We thought they had some great ideas and a great world in the background that they were building, and hopefully they'll get the opportunity to show more of that in the future. And we just wanted to help them distribute the game."
• However, the CEO stated that the “tough reception” wasn’t what either party had hoped for, and that while Build a Rocket Boy is attempting to turn things around, the launch has resulted in IOI rethinking its publishing strategy. “It was a tough reception,” he said. “It wasn’t what they hoped for, and also what we didn’t hope for at IOI Partners. They’re working hard on turning that around to regain the trust of the gamers out there, and they have tons of potential and content they’re working on. So hopefully they’ll succeed with that in the future… IO Interactive will publish our own games internally. IOI Partners? That remains to be seen.”
• Benzies and Abrak had differing opinions on the backlash at MindsEye’s release, with the former claiming that the poor reception was a "concerted effort" to target the studio. However, Abrak responded to the accusation from the former Rockstar North president, stating that he didn’t believe that was the case.