Weirdly similar social media posts get the rumour mill going, but the studio says it’s got nothing to do with it. If you’ve been keeping even half an eye on MindsEye since its launch, a game that already has a bit of a cult following thanks to its trippy story and visuals, you may have noticed a small social media storm brewing. In short, some folks think bots are being used to hype the game. Others think it’s just the usual internet weirdness. The developer, Build A Rocket Boy (BARB), says none of it is true.
The Spark: Suspicious Posts Start Circulating
It all kicked off when journalists Mike Channell and Kirk McKeand noticed something odd in a string of social media posts praising MindsEye using eerily similar wording. Phrases like “MindsEye gave me goosebumps” kept popping up, often followed by a tidy list of platforms where the game is available. The kind of thing that reads less like a fan and more like a marketing bot.
Things escalated when two identical comments appeared under Eurogamer’s MindsEye review on Facebook, sparking a wider conversation about whether bots were being used to flood the internet with positive vibes about the game.
BARB Responds: “We Don’t Do Bots”
Seeing the chatter grow, BARB quickly took to social media to set the record straight. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), they wrote:
“Taking a minute to set the record straight and refute this, and other false claims that are swirling. BARB has never used any bots, nor will we. We’re pumped to see players loving the latest MindsEye update! #NoBots.”
The tone was clear: the studio isn’t playing any shady marketing games.
Digging a Little Deeper
Curious minds weren’t satisfied just yet, though. A few people did a deeper dive into the accounts involved in these questionable posts. It turns out some of them were pretty new, created as recently as April this year, and one account had posted four nearly identical promos for MindsEye in just two days. Another even retweeted its own posts to drum up extra visibility.
But was this a coordinated campaign by BARB? Or just random engagement-farming accounts trying to piggyback on the game’s buzz? The jury’s still out, but based on what’s been found so far, this looks more like standard internet bot noise rather than full-blown astroturfing.
Just Another Day in Internet Land
At the end of the day, MindsEye’s minor PR blip feels like a storm in a teacup. In a world where bot-driven spam is everywhere, it’s not surprising to see some of it latch onto a trending game. Whether this controversy sticks or fades away probably depends on what the internet decides to obsess over next.
For now, BARB can only hope the conversation shifts back to what matters most: people actually playing and enjoying the game.
