In a statement forwarded to Kotaku, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has announced that several employees of MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy have initiated legal action against the company for allegedly installing the “invasive surveillance software” Teramind on their work devices. This is alongside separate legal claims, launched on April 12, which detail “alleged mishandling of a redundancy process” and “unlawful blacklisting” following the firing of 300 Build a Rocket Boy employees in June of 2025.
The statement, dated April 21, notes that 40 Build a Rocket Boy workers signed a collective grievance in March following a supposed leaked internal meeting led by co-CEO Mark Gerhard, in which Gerhard reportedly blamed Ritual Network, a YouTube and TikTok management agency, for “sabotaging” MindsEye, and also reportedly announced that an “enhanced cybersecurity software” program named Teramind had been installed on employees’ work devices.
As detailed in today’s statement from IWGB, “Workers at games studio Build A Rocket Boy (BARB) have initiated legal proceedings against the company over concerns of data protection violations, after management installed invasive Teramind surveillance software onto their devices without their knowledge.”
Although IWGB’s statement notes that Build a Rocket Boy later “deinstalled the software” following the collective grievance, it also states that “the company failed to meet the aggrieved workers’ other demands for transparency and accountability, refusing to explain what data was collected, how it was used and why the software was installed in the first place.”
IWGB also stated that the Teramind software “violates both data protection laws and the workforce’s basic dignity, exceeding the legitimate remit of monitoring workers’ productivity or safeguarding the company’s security by recording individuals in their homes and without their consent.” As a result, the IWGB is now “escalating the matter” through the UK’s Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service and the Information Commissioner’s Office.
However, that’s not all, as IWGB’s statement also revealed that the union has filed an undisclosed number of separate legal filings related to “BARB’s alleged mishandling of a redundancy process” last year: “If successful, the legal claim, which includes allegations of unlawful blacklisting, detriment, and failure to engage in collective consultations, could cost BARB millions.”
Kotaku has reached out to Build a Rocket Boy for comment.
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